Updated: August 29, 2020 7:49:51 am
The common electoral roll is one of the promises the BJP made in its manifesto for the Lok Sabha elections last year.
In a movement that is linked to the idea of simultaneous elections in the country, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), earlier this month, held a meeting to discuss the possibility of preparing a common voter list for elections to all local agencies, the state. assemblies and Lok Sabha.
The August 13 meeting, chaired by PK Mishra, PM Principal Secretary, discussed two options. First, a constitutional amendment to articles 243K and 243ZA that would require having a single electoral roll for all elections in the country. Second, persuade state governments to amend their respective laws and adopt the Electoral Commission (EC) voter list for municipal and panchayat polls.
Sources said Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba, Legislative Secretary G Narayana Raju, Panchayati Raj Secretary Sunil Kumar and three EC representatives, including Secretary General Umesh Sinha, attended the discussion.
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Articles 243K and 243ZA deal with elections to panchayats and municipalities in the states. These grant the power of superintendency, direction and control of the preparation of the electoral rolls and the conduct of these elections to the State Elections Commission (SEC).
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On the other hand, article 324 (1) of the Constitution empowers the EC to supervise, direct and control the preparation and revision of the electoral rolls for all elections to Parliament and state legislatures. In other words, the SEC is free to prepare its own electoral rolls for elections to local bodies, and this exercise does not have to be coordinated with the EC.
Currently, most states use the EC voter list, rather than their own, to choose their municipalities and panchayats. However, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Odisha, Assam, Madhya Pradesh, Kerala, Odisha, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland and the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir have their own electoral rolls for local body polls.
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Among the two options discussed at the PMO meeting chaired by Mishra, sources said Sunil Kumar was in favor of persuading the remaining states to adopt the EC voter list for local body elections. It was learned that the meeting ended with Mishra asking the Cabinet Secretary to consult the states and suggest the next step in a month.
The common electoral roll is one of the promises the BJP made in its manifesto for the Lok Sabha elections last year. It relates to the party’s commitment to hold elections simultaneously to the Lok Sabha, state assemblies and local bodies, which is also mentioned in the manifesto.
However, the proposal for a single voter list is not new. The Law Commission recommended it in its 255th report in 2015. The EC also took a similar position in 1999 and 2004. It had observed that non-compliance of the preparation of electoral rolls by the EC and the SEC leads to the duplication of the same task between two different agencies. In addition, the EC noted that it increases confusion among voters, as they can find their names present on one list, but absent from another.
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The current government has drawn up a common electoral roll and simultaneous elections as a way to save an enormous amount of effort and expense.
A former chief elections commissioner, who spoke to The Indian Express on condition of anonymity, agreed that a common electoral roll would save money for the treasury and the election conducting agencies in the effort. However, he noted that the change would require a massive consensus-building exercise, which may not be easy given the suspicion among states and the center.
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“Having a common electoral roll does not end with convincing state governments to adopt the EC voter list. The boundaries of the EC voting station may not necessarily coincide with those of the districts. Therefore, the EC voter list should be designed to fit the SEC chambers. There are digital tools that can be designed to facilitate that, ”said the former CEC.
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