Absolutely no chance for breach of voting secrecy: SEC

Voters exhorted to exercise their rights without any fear

January 19, 2020 11:23 pm | Updated 11:23 pm IST - HYDERABAD

The Telangana State Election Commission has asserted that there is absolutely no chance of breach of secrecy of voting of any voter and exhorted the electors to exercise their voting rights without any fear.

The SEC averred that any attempt to breach the secrecy of voting would be thwarted and severest punishment would be given to such perpetrators. The police authorities concerned had been directed to initiate prompt action in the event of any such case coming to their notice.

The commission said secrecy of voting is the fundamental feature of all elections and the SEC made fool proof arrangements to prevent any breach of secrecy either on the day of poll or on the day of counting.

Multi-layered security

The ballot boxes would be stored in strong rooms with multi-layered security with total transparency during the interregnum too and there is no chance of breaching this security.

Section 212 of the Telangana Municipalities Act 2019 makes it an offence to cause any break in the secrecy of voting and anybody attempting to break the law would be sent to jail for three months with a provision of imposition of fine too.

The Indian Penal Code Section 171C read with Section 171F imposes one-year jail term to anybody exerting or attempting to exert undue influence/interference with the free exercise of any electoral rights, the SEC added.

Meanwhile, the Commission had ordered the officials concerned to declare a local holiday on the polling day in the areas which were going to polls on January 22 and January 24. The Labour Department has been asked to ensure that a paid holiday is observed for shops and establishments on the polling day in the areas where the elections had been notified.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.