Inefficiency of India’s Election Commission, a shame to democracy

No other country in the world has ever witnessed an election lasting one-and-a-half months. India is in standstill since the model code of conduct does not permit major policy decisions during this period.

Elections in India have evolved over the last 70 years. Earlier, they were conducted in a day across the country. There were no electronic voting machines and all the ballots had to be printed and then transported to every nook and corner. And yet, the elections were done in one day with no major problems.

Then what changed that elections were suddenly conducted in many phases, even in the same states?

The simple answer is that the Election Commission wanted to take control and micromanage everything. Why?

The election is conducted by local authorities. Law and order is managed by the local police with political parties pitching in. In spite of that, booth-capturing and bogus voting occurs, even though they are few in number these days. If there are allegations of booth-capturing, it is easy to cancel the election and order re-poll.

Politicians, especially those in power, always prefer elections in many phases. They can use the government machinery to fly around the country to campaign while ostensibly working.

People vote on national issues in the Lok Sabha elections. The issues the electorate deal with at the first phase of elections may not be what they face in the last one. Is that fair?

If there is a war or national crisis after two or three phases of the election, how will it affect the elections? Naturally, people will rally behind the government. The government may be unpopular, yet it may gain support in such an eventuality. Is that proper?

Remember, Pakistan saying that they feared an attack before the third phase of the election? They even mentioned the potential dates. Fortunately, nothing happened.

The Election Commission may claim many phases are needed for effectively deploying security forces. A few members of the central forces are not going to change things much. The threat of re-polling is the best antidote for any unfortunate situation.

We are moving to one tax etc in India. But nobody is worried of the elections being conducted in a span of one-and -a-half months. The country is in limbo. Is this not a shame?

In America people can start voting a few days before the actual date of the election. Why not start something similar in India?. If we can use voting machines, we can do this too. It helps that voting locations have live cameras which record every movement. Any malpractice can be viewed later (as in Kerala) if any allegations occur.

As we move ahead technologically, we are sliding back on the basics. This should not happen in the next elections.