Concern over absence of dummy ballot paper

Sameer Singh

Tribune News Service

Bathinda, May 18

Voters raised concern over the absence of dummy ballot papers as they have to face a lot of inconvenience while casting their vote for their respective candidates. Their contention is that without any prior demonstration or distribution of dummy ballot papers in advance, locating the symbol of the candidate of their choice from three EVMs becomes a laborious process.

Voters in the city said in the absence of dummy ballot papers, casting vote not only becomes a time consuming affair but the risk of casting vote to the wrong candidate also looms large.

Notably, there are 27 candidates in the fray from the Bathinda constituency and symbols of these candidates would be placed in two or three EVM machines.

Voters said the local administration could have made better arrangements to spread awareness for casting their votes. If the voters cast their ballot for the wrong candidate (not of their choice), the entire purpose of the electioneering would be defeated.

Sukhdev Ram Bansal, state secretary of the Akhil Bharatiya Grahak Panchayat, said, “The District Election Officer could have made better arrangements before conducting the Lok Sabha elections. The administration could have distributed dummy ballot papers clearly mentioning the positions of all 27 candidates in the fray as in the EVM machines. They could have at least pasted dummy ballot papers at public places for the convenience of voters.”

“It is the elderly and the illiterates who are the victims of the apathy of the administration as it becomes a tedious job for them to locate the name and symbol of their favourite candidate on the EVM. Knowing the exact position of the candidate on the EVM, a voter could have taken a minute to cast his/her vote but in the current scenario, it is likely to take 3-5 minutes. There are chances that some voters might cast their vote for the wrong candidate (not of their choice). Moreover, it is likely to affect the total polling as well,” said Bansal.

Said 70-year-old Jarnail Singh, “The Election Commission must make a provision to paste dummy ballot papers outside the polling booths which must clearly mention the exact position of a candidate on the EVM so that it becomes easy for us to cast our vote. During the previous elections, I had faced a lot of difficulty in locating the candidate’s name and symbol.”

Risk of wrong voting 

• Voters say in the absence of dummy ballot papers, casting vote not only becomes a time-consuming affair but the risk of casting vote to the wrong candidate also looms large 
• They say the local administration could have made better arrangements to spread awareness for casting votes. If the voters cast their ballot for the wrong candidate (not of their choice), the entire purpose of the electioneering will be defeated