Why are electoral reforms necessary?

(Source – The Hindu, International Edition – Page No. – 10)

Issues in the Voting and Counting Process

1. Paper Ballot Demand: A Public Interest Litigation (PIL) sought a return to paper ballots, but the Supreme Court dismissed this in April 2024.

2. 100% VVPAT-EVM Matching: A demand for full VVPAT verification was rejected, but the Supreme Court allowed burnt memory verification of 5% of EVMs in suspicious cases.

3. Electoral Roll Manipulation Allegations: Opposition parties claim fake voters were added in recent assembly elections.

4. Duplicate EPIC Numbers: Some voters in different States share the same EPIC number, likely due to past decentralization before the ERONET platform.

Issues in the Election Campaign Process

1. Inappropriate Campaigning: Some political leaders use abusive language, appeal to caste or communal identities, and make false claims.

2. Excessive Election Spending: Candidates exceed legal spending limits, and there is no cap on political party spending. The 2024 Lok Sabha elections saw an estimated ₹1,00,000 crore in spending.

3. Criminalization of Politics: In 2024, 46% (251 MPs out of 543) had criminal cases, with 31% (170 MPs) facing serious charges like murder and kidnapping.

Proposed Reforms in the Election Process

1. EVM and VVPAT Improvements

   • Sample size for EVM-VVPAT matching should be scientifically determined at the regional level.

   • If any mismatch is found, all VVPAT slips for that region should be counted.

   • ‘Totaliser’ machines should be introduced to aggregate votes across multiple EVMs before revealing individual candidate counts.

2. Addressing Electoral Roll Issues

   • Linking Aadhaar with EPIC numbers can be considered after privacy concerns are addressed.

   • The EC should eliminate duplicate voter IDs across States.

Proposed Reforms in the Election Campaign Process

1. Regulating Star Campaigners

   • The EC should have the power to revoke a leader’s ‘Star Campaigner’ status if they violate the Model Code of Conduct (MCC).

   • Political parties should face strict penalties under Paragraph 16A of the Symbols Order for repeated violations.

2. Controlling Election Expenditure

   • The law should ensure that financial aid given by a political party to a candidate is counted within the candidate’s spending limit.

   • A ceiling should be placed on overall political party expenditure.

3. Tackling Criminalization of Politics

   • Candidates and parties must publicly disclose criminal records at least three times before elections through widely circulated newspapers and electronic media.

Conclusion

• Free and fair elections are part of the basic structure of the Constitution.

• Meaningful discussions between the EC and political parties are essential to restoring public confidence in the electoral process.