Southern States - Karnataka   

Governor for financial powers for SECs

By Our Staff Reporter

Bangalore June 25. The Karnataka Governor, T.N. Chaturvedi, today urged the Centre to constitute a commission to recommend reforms to bring in uniformity in the functioning of the State election commissions (SECs) as each of them was following its own rules and regulations on issues such as conducting elections and preparing electoral rolls.

Inaugurating an All-India State Election Commissioners' Conference here, the Governor said that it was time for the Centre to review the system after 10 years of the implementation of the Panchayat Raj Act. The commission should study the difficulties faced by the SECs.

He advised the SECs not to worry about the ceiling to be fixed on the expenditure incurred by the candidates in the elections, as they did not have the staff and facilities to monitor it. Instead, the SECs should concentrate on other issues that affected their functioning.

Favouring financial powers for the SECs, he said the expenditure should be charged to the Consolidated Fund. This deserved serious consideration. He also stressed the need to look into the criminal antecedents of candidates contesting elections.

Mr. Chaturvedi advised governments to be careful in choosing a person for the post of State Election Commissioner as he should be a person of integrity and efficiency. If the State Election Commissioner had to be removed, the procedure followed for the removal of a High Court judge could be followed.

The powers enjoyed by the State election commissioners should be commensurate with the high office they held.

The Governor favoured the use of electronic voting machines.

The election commissioners of Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Orissa, Haryana, and Sikkim proposed certain changes to the Act.

Election commissioners from Chhatisgarh, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Goa, Madhya Pradesh, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, and Uttaranchal were present.

The Karnataka Election Commissioner, C. Chikkanna, welcomed the gathering. The Secretary to the commission, B.N. Nanda Kumar, proposed a vote of thanks.

The conference was being held after seven years because no State had offered to host it, an officer said.

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