Election counting | Why counting of postal ballots before EVMs matters

With less than 48 hours left for counting of votes, a delegation of the INDIA bloc parties on Sunday (June 2) approached the Election Commission of India against the practice of counting the votes polled in the electronic voting machines (EVMs) and declaring the results before counting of the postal ballots is completed.

Addressing the media after the delegation’s meeting with the poll panel, senior Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi said that the key demand they raised was the counting and declaring of postal ballot numbers first.

What does the rule book say?

As outlined in Rule 54A of the Conduct of Elections Rules 1961, counting postal ballots is the initial step of counting of votes. Only those postal ballot papers received by the returning office (RO) before the scheduled start time for counting are eligible for consideration.

When the counting process starts, it is the responsibility of the RO to furnish the Observer with an up-to-date tally of the total number of postal ballot papers received from facilitation centres and through post.

The EC is required to count postal ballots alone in the first 30 minutes of counting and declare the count of postal ballots before the count of final round of EVM votes. After 30 minutes from the start of counting postal ballots, the counting of votes from EVMs should start. This is the legally sanctioned process.

What's Opposition saying? 

Singhvi said the statutory rule 54A specifically says that one should deal with the postal ballots first while emphasising that the poll body had itself highlighted this in writing in 2019.

The former Rajya Sabha MP said that this rule had been “given the go-by” and was repealed by the EC. He said that this essentially meant that the EVM counting could be initiated before the postal ballots and the results for the same be declared. “You cannot change a statutory rule by a guideline or a letter,” Singhvi said, calling it a “grave and clear violation”.

He also alleged that the margin of votes between the two main contending parties in an area or even the whole state could be completely different for the EVMs and the postal ballots.

The Congress' memorandum submitted to the EC said: "It is pertinent to point out that till the year 2019 there was a rule/guideline to the effect that the penultimate round of the EVM shall not be counted till the postal ballots are counted and the result thereof is declared.” 

Why is the demand significant now?

The INDIA bloc leaders said this is the first Lok Sabha elections where postal ballots votes have considerably increased multifold, with the government’s initiative to allow senior citizens (85 years and above) and physically disabled persons to cast their votes through postal ballots.

“While we welcome this initiative for ensuring maximum participation of voters, there are few concerns which are required to be urgently addressed by your Commission either through an official clarification or an advisory to the Chief Electoral Officers across the states,” they said.

In case the EVM counting is finished and a winner is declared, the postal ballots may cease to make a difference to the results. This is alarming due to the substantial volumes of postal ballots this Lok Sabha election.

The losing candidates or their parties can file a petition in such a circumstance, pointing out that the postal ballots could have ensured their victory, but the legal process following that could be long-winding and tedious.

The Bihar example

To drive home the point, the INDIA bloc leaders underlined the significant impact of the postal ballots witnessed in the 2020 Bihar assembly polls. At that time the difference between the winning alliance and the other parties was only 12,700 votes for the entire state, whereas the total number of voters who had opted for postal ballots in Bihar was 52,000.

“These 12,700 votes accounted for only 0.03% of the total votes cast but clearly changed the outcome of the entire election. In fact, there was a huge outcry in Bihar, with the first election (which was conducted after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic), where the postal ballots were counted at the end of counting of EVM votes,” they said.