Poll officials at risk of contracting COVID-19: DMK
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The DMK on Monday advised the Madras High Court that the Election Commission of India (ECI), by allowing COVID-19 sufferers to vote by way of postal poll, is placing election officials and others at risk of contracting the virus. It can be higher if these sufferers not come to polling cubicles and never vote at all, the celebration stated.
Appearing earlier than the primary Division Bench of Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy, senior counsel P. Wilson stated there was no readability on how election officials, videographers, cops and politicians would go to hospitals and people in dwelling quarantine, and the way they’d give and take again the postal poll papers from these in quarantine. “Even in the Madras High Court, we have been keeping every paper filed in this court on quarantine for 24 hours before touching them. But when it comes to postal ballot, there’s no clarity on who will meet the patients in quarantine and obtain the postal votes. It is better that COVID-19 patients not come to the polling booths and not vote at all,” he advised the Bench.
The arguments have been made throughout the listening to of a case filed by the DMK difficult Section 60(c) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, which empowers the ECI to create a brand new class of voters akin to ‘absentee voters’ and provides the choice of voting by way of postal poll to these aged above 80 years, the bodily challenged, these affected by COVID-19, and so on.
Mr. Wilson argued that enabling each voter to go to the polling sales space and letting them really feel unbiased and free for just a few moments with the digital voting machines (EVM) alone would be certain that the voter will get to train his/her franchise with none stress. Such independence couldn’t be anticipated whereas voting by way of postal poll as a result of risk of affect from household and buddies, he added.
There was completely no rationale behind the choices taken by the ECI on categorising absentee voters, he stated. Wondering on what foundation it had arrived at a conclusion that voters aged above 80 years could possibly be given the choice of voting by way of postal poll, the senior counsel requested: “Why didn’t it give a similar option to those suffering from cancer, blood pressure and diabetes?”
Earlier, senior counsel G. Rajagopal, representing the ECI, and Additional Solicitor-General R. Sankaranarayanan, representing the Centre, contended that the ECI was properly inside its powers to offer the choice of voting by way of postal poll to a choose class of voters. They additionally stated it was sufficient to take the choice after consulting the Centre and that there was no have to seek the advice of the State governments.
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