Mumbai: State Election Commissioner J S Saharia has just one appeal to Mumbaikars: “I hope none of you goes on a holiday without voting.”
At an ‘Election Special’ organised by not-for-profit TogetherVCan, Mr. Saharia was making an impassioned appeal to reverse a distressing trend. Less than 50 % of Mumbaikars — 44%, according to Mr. Saharia — come out to vote, and year after year, it’s the same story: “In the so-called elite areas of Mumbai, 25-30% of people vote.” Elections to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation are barely a fortnight away, but the concern remains: “It’s a people’s government. But how much of this involves people’s participation?”
Mr. Saharia pointed out how voting percentages decline drastically in urban areas, in comparison to rural areas. If in urban areas, it is 65-70%, in corporation elections, it declines to 50-50 %, while in rural areas, it is a good 80-85%. Now stack this up against Mumbai’s 44%. “Of the 10 municipal corporations going to the polls, 50 % of voters are in Mumbai, and the rest are spread among the remaining corporations,” which makes the Mumbai elections doubly important for the State. In its 227 wards, nearly a crore — 91.8 lakh people — are eligible to vote, and nominations have been received from 225 candidates. The other numbers are big as well: there are 7,300 polling stations, which over 40,000 officers and employees will manage.
To voters in the audience — students, Advanced Locality Management members, executives, representatives of various organisations – Mr. Saharia spelt out the three mobile apps the State Election Commission has in place to ensure, “free, fair and transparent” elections. The first was an app dealing with FAQs — nearly 2,000 questions are already up on it. The second, he said, was the ‘True Voter’ app, wherein voters can search their names on the voters’ list and understand how to reach their polling station; and candidates can submit expenditure details. The third app, he said, was the COP – the Citizens on Patrol. A user can upload a video where he notices a violation of the law, and it will reach an officer within two to three km of the area in question, in real time.
He also said a summary of a candidate’s educational qualifications, their total movable and immovable assets, and criminal cases against them will be published as advertisements and displayed outside polling stations. For people with disabilities, there will be ramps at polling stations, in addition to general facilities like good access points, drinking water and toilets. “Given the resources we have, we want to make polling a pleasant experience for all voters, especially the elderly and the physically challenged,” he said.
To improve voting percentages, the State Election Commission has tried to involve colleges, housing societies, the media, cinema halls and even the Railways. And there were positive responses from many quarters. The University Management Council has passed a resolution that they will do anything they can to promote voting, in the national interest. Hotel associations had come forward in an interesting way. Most restaurants would provide people a 15-20% discount if they came after voting, and if they didn’t vote, they would serve them but also express displeasure. Banks, on their part, are planning to send out SMSes to customers, while organisations are doing their bit to encourage employees to vote. “If I am registered as a voter, it is my duty to vote and ensure that people around me do so too. Till we do this, we cannot take democracy to the level that the framers of our Constitution desired.”
The audience, which took his suggestions to heart, had a few tough questions for him as well. One question that arrived on SMS said, “Can the Election Commission explain when the last update was done on the voters’ list? Like the accusation of Donald Trump (sic), is there a threat of bogus voters?”
A student of Wilson College demanded to know why he was made to do the rounds of the election office to secure his identity card. “I was told I would get it by post in November 2016, but still haven’t. Last week, I found out that my name is in the internal documents but not on the voters’ list.” The representative of an organisation for people with disabilities wanted to know if people manning booths had been trained to direct people to ramps. Another SMS questioner wanted to know if political parties could display their flags in public places when the election code of conduct is in place — he had seen one at the international airport. A member of the Worli ALM said there were nearly 220 flats that had come up on converted mill land, but only 200 voters were registered, perhaps because they had shifted from other areas. He also said that in the 2014 elections, assumptions of “secret ballot” were busted – data on a booths voting in favour of a party were readily available.
To all these people, Mr. Saharia patiently explained the rules, allayed their fears, and also counselled them on the initiative they needed to show in getting themselves registered in a certain area. “In most high-end societies, the watchman doesn’t allow our employees. It has to be a two-way process,” he said.
BG Pawar, Deputy Municipal Commissioner, also pointed out that complaints could be registered on the helplines 1292 and 1293 through land lines, and added that some issues like sensitising poll booth officers would be taken up with the municipal commissioner.
The final appeal – a personal one -- came from Mr. Saharia. “People like us, who are past 60 years of age, just have a few more decades left here. But you, the youth, need to take the country forward.” And as step one, they could go out and vote.
