Totaliser would restore electoral process credibility: LSE prof Mukulika Banerjee

The secrecy of the ballot is at stake and the only way to gain credibility of the electoral process back is to introduce a Totaliser, said professor Mukulika Banerjee of London School of Economics, while addressing students of the Ahmedabad University (AU). Banerjee was in the city to deliver a talk organised by the School of Arts and Sciences at AU, on "Elections 2019: A Radical Rupture", in which she not only delved into why India votes but also gave the students an insight into the drastic change that the country has undergone from 2014 to 2019. A Totaliser masks booth-wise voting patterns.

While talking about the voting system and the credibility of the Election Commission of India and the electoral process, she said, "When there were paper ballots, it was an easy way to identify booth-wise who has voted for whom and hence, incidents of people being ostracized would emerge. To avoid this, a machine called a Totaliser was developed which would mix all the booth votes to end identification. However, when the machine came in, the BJP objected. Time has come now to pressurise the government to introduce a Totaliser. A machine has been developed, it works well, why are we not introducing it? The only way to get credibility of the electoral process back is to introduce a Totaliser."

She further spoke about fingers being pointed at the ECI as a number of women, Muslim and Dalit voters have gone missing from the voters list. "The voters list has to be updated and cleaned often. While such incidents happen, when you see a trend of only Dalit voters missing from the list, one needs to ask questions."

Summing up the 2019 elections, Banerjee said, "The conduct of elections and the performance of the Election Commission of India has been way below par. The confidence that the Indian voter had in the ECI has been eroded at an election when it is critical that we have free and fair rounds merely because the future of the Constitution is at stake."

For professor Abrar Ali Saiyed who works with Ahmedabad University, Banerjee's talk came at a right time. He said, "We rarely get people who talk about such issues. She showed us the real picture of what is happening at ground level and what we should keep in mind when we vote."

There were many takeaways from the talk that included our perception of poor people going to vote. While majority of us still believed that they go to vote for money, she explained the reason why they go to vote. And it is mainly because it is the only place they do not feel discriminated, women are allowed to take their own decisions, there is no hierarchy as everyone stands in a queue be it the rich or the poor. So voting in India is a sense of pride and celebration.

She also threw light on the worrisome situation of the independent Election Commission of India being institutionalised, the role of Whatsapp being used to create hatred, how large number of women, Dalit and Muslim voters have gone missing from the voters list, etc.

All are equal in queue at polling booth

• There were many takeaways from the talk that included our perception of poor people going to vote. 
• Professor Banerjee said many poor people feel it is the only place they do not feel discriminated, women are allowed to take their own decisions.
• There is no hierarchy as everyone stands in a queue be it the rich or the poor. So voting in India is a sense of pride and celebration.