Examining electoral rolls will not defy secrecy: SC

Examining marked electoral rolls in the interest of ‘purity of elections’ will not defy the secrecy of ballot, ruled the Supreme Court (SC). “If the secrecy of ballot adversely impacts the principle of free and fair elections, democracy will be used to undo it,” SC said while asserting its earlier pronouncement made in 1964.

The ruling delivered by justices DK Jain and RM Lodha upholds a Punjab and Haryana high court judgment that permitted the examination of some marked electoral rolls in the Gharaunda legislative segment in the 2005 state assembly elections.

One Rekha Rana was challenged by opponent Jaipal Sharma after she defeated him by a margin of 21 votes in the 2005 elections. Sharma said she had benefited from impersonation of votes. According to Sharma, 96 voters had polled twice and 29 votes had been cast by impersonators. He said 53 votes were cast in the name of a dead person, two on behalf of imprisoned voters and eight on behalf of persons who were abroad.

HC felt the impersonation allegations could be ascertained from the marked electoral rolls. So, it permitted the examining stating it will not jeopardise the secrecy of ballot. Agreeing with HC’s verdict SC held, a marked electoral roll can only reveal if a voter had cast his/ her vote from a particular polling booth. It is not possible to decipher who the beneficiary of the vote was as there is no indication on the electoral roll to show who the voter had voted for, SC said.