Armed forces men can vote at place of posting: SC

The order will also be applicable to the families of such personnel and will do away the rigour of either travelling to the native place where they have been registered as voters, or use the less popular mode of postal ballot and proxy voting.

Those personnel, who have already submitted the statutory forms to use postal ballot, the court said, the Centre “shall take all steps and provide necessary assistance” to the EC in making postal ballot an “effective” mode of voting. Out of around 16 lakh personnel, 13.6 lakh have submitted the forms to use indirect mode of voting.

A Bench of Justices R M Lodha and Kurian Joseph recorded the statement by the EC’s counsel that the Commission will not insist on its 2008 order whereby a defence personnel required to serve at least three years on one posting to be treated as an “ordinary resident” and hence eligible to be registered as a voter. The EC further agreed it will not press on another condition in the 2008 order that defence personnel must be stationed with their families before they could be registered as general voters in their place of posting.

This order will be applicable to constituencies where the EC has not yet commenced its electoral process. Senior counsel Meenakshi Arora, counsel for the EC, informed the court that in 225 LS constituencies, the electoral process has begun. The Bench was adjudicating two PILs, filed by lawmaker Rajeev Chandrasekhar and advocate Neela Gokhale.

The EC initially expressed its reluctance in the court to allow registration of personnel as voters from their places of posting on the ground that it will change the electoral profile of a constituency.

The EC also sought to defend its three-year mandatory tenure posting rule but the court expressed its disappointment over what it called a “rigid” and “technical” stand taken by the Commission whereas it should be more concerned about ensuring every citizen can exercise his right to vote.