A welcome move

THE DECISION OF the Election Commission (E.C.) of India to insist on the production of identity cards (IDs) by voters in Haryana to exercise their franchise in the coming Assembly elections has to be welcomed. From 1993, the E.C. has been struggling to implement this massive scheme of video-photographing all registered voters and issuing them an official ID. Completing the job across such a populous and diverse country to record the identities of over 600 million eligible voters is no mean task. The E.C. has now found that Haryana is a fit case to begin the exercise. Since an estimated 88 per cent of the 1.11-crore electorate has already been issued with the IDs, there can be no reason to oppose the move. After all, the E.C. has also provided for voters who have not been given their IDs to prove their identity by other means - such as ration cards, driving licences, bank passbooks or even electricity or telephone bills. But they will be allowed to vote by the Presiding Officer in the booth only if they can satisfactorily prove their identity. If this scheme is implemented, it can certainly reduce, if not eliminate, bogus voting in the elections.

It was in keeping with Rule 28 of the Registration of Electors Rules 1960 that the E.C. decided to facilitate the easy identification of registered voters by issuing them with an official ID. It can therefore insist that the voters must produce their ID or prove their identity. Otherwise, the voter can be denied the vote. It is a matter of concern that after eight years, the E.C. now says only Haryana has qualified for the implementation of the voter ID programme. More than Rs. 1000 crores have been spent on this project on a 50:50 basis between the Centre and the States to supply ID cards to all registered voters. But a majority of the States have not completed the process and are trying to revise and update the list by inviting those left out of the process to complete the formalities. Before the other States can comply and implement the proposal, it will be an ideal opportunity to experiment with it in Haryana which goes to the polls on February 22 to elect 90 members to the State Legislature. It could well be a compact State to try the scheme in. Based on its efficacy, the E.C. must insist that hereafter all States must follow this scheme and in future Assembly elections ID cards for voters will be compulsory.

It is unfortunate that there is always some resistance from certain groups and vested interests to the implementation of new and modern methods to plug the loopholes in the electoral system. The electronic voting machine was opposed tooth and nail by many political parties and it was taken to the courts. But in the recent elections, it has been reintroduced successfully in some States. Whole constituencies have been covered through these machines, reducing the invalid votes and making it easier as well as quicker for the counting process. Given the staggered polling that has become part of the Indian election exercise, the E.C. must strive to introduce electronic voting across the country for the next Lok Sabha election. In any new scheme, there are bound to be snags and operational problems. In the issue of identity cards, many States ran into problems. The photographs were not clear; the personal details such as the date of birth or the address were wrong. All this needs to be corrected. But teething problems should not come in the way of improving and modernising the electoral process to make it tamper-proof and eliminate irregularities. Any proposal by the E.C. to make the elections in the world's largest democracy freer and fairer must be welcomed. The E.C. must simultaneously launch a programme to educate and sensitise the voters so that they can use these measures to protect the value of their votes.

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