Panaji: In a representation to the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) and the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), the Goa Forward Party (GFP) on Saturday pointed out “gross lacunae in the process of postal ballots” in the February 4 Assembly polls.
The party demanded that the postal ballot voting should not be considered for counting and declaration of the election results.
The GFP has termed the “confusion and disorder in the postal balloting schedules and procedures as a scam, which is making a mockery of the elections and Indian democracy”.
Empathising with voters who exercised their franchise through postal ballot, the GFP expressed confidence that these voters will understand that the party and its demands are in the best interests of the Goan electorate.
GFP president Prabhakar Timble said the Election Commission of India has done honour to Goa as the recent Assembly elections could occupy a ranking in the Guinness Book of World Records, “as one where the voting lines were open for over 35 days.”
He added that keeping voting lines open for postal ballots for over 35 days may look proper as a bureaucratic decision, “but people expect the ECI to adopt a functional approach to ensure the election process is perceived to be free, fair and just by the electorate.”
Dilip Prabhu Desai, a GFP leader, was critical of the special camp announced by the CEO for postal ballots. He said the ECI guidelines issued on March 7, 2014, gave no power to the CEO to hold special camps.
