Tackling use of money power in polls biggest challenge: CEC in Karnataka

“Karnataka has a major concern which is the use of money power,” the CEC said while pointing out that every state has specific problems related to polls and that the recent polls in the north-east were held peacefully despite fear of violence in places like Nagaland.

In Karnataka the Election Commission will be putting extra emphasis on preventing the flow of freebies and cash to influence voters, he said. “We met various enforcement agencies – the state police, revenue intelligence, central GST, state GST, Central Board Of Indirect Taxes & Customs, Income Tax, Coast Guard, ED, airports, we want to watch the movement of helicopters, uncharted flights, airplanes and the borders to ensure that illegal or irregular inflow of any freebies or money or liquor is strictly guarded and not allowed,” Kumar explained.

The CEC said even banks have been asked to provide information on any irregular movement of funds from their accounts that could be linked to efforts to influence voters.

When the model code of conduct (MCC) is in place, the Election Commission will be putting additional emphasis on tackling the use of money power in the polls, Kumar said. “We are sure all agencies will work with seriousness. When the MCC comes, there will be a special focus in this area.”

The CEC stated that the poll panel has been increasingly successful in preventing the use of money power in elections. “As against Rs 43 crore seized in the 2017-18 elections, we seized Rs 1,000 crore in the recent polls in the five states. We have started talking to all enforcement agencies,” he said.

According to the CEC, political parties that choose candidates with criminal records must explain the reasons for picking them to the public through declarations in newspapers. The candidates have to publish details in newspapers on their criminal records and political parties have to publish the reasons for fielding candidates with a criminal background, he said.

The CEC said parties and candidates can monitor the movement of Electronic Voting Machines (EVM) and even stay at warehouses where they are kept. There have been concerns in the Opposition Congress party in Karnataka that EVMs are liable to be tampered with at storage locations.

“At every stage, from rolls to polls, we work on disclosure and transparency. At every stage, the political parties and candidates are involved. The storage of EVMs is notified in advance and the routes they will go to the storage site. Candidates can stay at the EVM warehouses. There will be three layers of security – CAPF, state armed police and district armed police – at the warehouses, besides videographing and CCTV, but candidates can stay,” the CEC said.

Kumar cited apathy to voting in urban areas and among youths as other sources of concern. “It is a big cause of concern that young voters are not coming to voting stations. Urban apathy and youth apathy are sources of concern. It is in the interest of democracy that they come to vote.”

“Our special focus is on connecting with the youth. In a year, the number of first-time voters from the age group of 18-19 has increased from 4 lakh to 9.17 lakh. This is part of our efforts to include all voters in the process of elections. Already we have 41,432 advance applications from youths who will be 18 by April 1 to vote in the polls,” the CEC said.

Another area of focus for the Election Commission is facilitating voting by the elderly and persons with disabilities (PWD). “The 80-plus voters are 1.5 lakh in number and persons with disabilities have increased to 5.55 lakh which is close to a 155 per cent increase,” he said.

“It is our concern that every disabled person must be empowered and come to the voting station. For the first time, we are giving all the 80-plus voters and the PWD voters the option to vote from the comfort of their homes. Our teams will go. There is a form 12D which will be available within five days of notification and it will be facilitated,” the CEC said. Polling booths will have facilities like wheelchairs, and dedicated parking for PWDs, and the Sakshyam app will allow arrangements for PWD voters, he said.

Special efforts are also in place to bring voters from very backward tribal groups and marginalised sections of society like transgenders. “There are two particularly vulnerable groups of tribes in Karnataka – the Jennu Kurubas and the Koraga tribes. We have taken special efforts this time to be inclusive of the PVTGs. Both groups have a population of 30,570 and all of them have been enrolled. There would be 40 ethnic polling stations in tribal areas.”

“There are 42,756 transgender voters in the state and we have registered 41,312. Everybody has a right to vote in the festival of elections,” Kumar added.

The CEC said there were a total of 58,282 polling booths in the state with an average of 883 voters per station. There will be 13,020 polling booths manned by women staff, and similarly, there are 224 booths that will be manned by PWDs and 224 booths managed by youths from the government, the CEC said.

“As of now, 50 percent of booths will have direct webcasts of the polling. There are 1,200 critical polling stations and, of these, some will be webcast live or there will be a micro-manager,” he said.

The CEC said that the poll panel wants to ensure that facilities provided at schools used as polling stations are provided with permanent facilities like drinking water, electricity, ramps and toilets. “The commission wants the infrastructure in the schools to be permanent” so that it can be used by the school students as well, he said.

The EC will also deploy mobile apps like C-Vigil for reporting illegal activities; Suvidha, an online platform for candidates to seek permission for rallies etc, and the Sakshyam app for PWDs to vote in the polls.