EC’s move to raise number of voters per polling station challenged in SC

A PIL has been filed in the Supreme Court challenging the Election Commission’s decision to increase the maximum number of voters per polling station from 1,200 to 1,500.

A three-judge Bench, led by Justice Sanjiv Khanna, asked petitioner Indu Prakash Singh to serve an advance copy of his petition on standing counsel of the EC for obtaining necessary instructions on the factual position and spell out the poll panel’s stand on the next date.

The Bench – which also included Justice Sanjay Kumar and Justice R Mahadevan – however, on October 24, refused to issue notice to the commission on Singh’s petition.

On behalf of the petitioner, senior counsel AM Singhvi contended that the increase in the number of voters would lead to exclusion of underprivileged groups from the election process due to the disproportionate amount of time taken in voting on account of the increased number.

Terming it as an act of voter disenfranchisement, Singhvi said voters get discouraged due to long queues and waiting periods.