The Supreme Court directed the Election Commission on Monday to be less “rigid” and “technical”, and relax its rules to permit defence personnel (and their families) posted at peace stations to enroll themselves as voters like anyone else residing in a constituency. The ruling will be widely welcomed as it allows more citizens to exercise their franchise, a right that was earlier constrained by the special circumstances in which military personnel find themselves.
Soldiers, sailors and airmen had to use the postal ballot method and even for this they had to be at a particular station for at least three years, and with their families. All this has now gone out of the window with the EC agreeing to amend its 2008 instructions. Now a soldier at a peace station will be eligible to vote — and has thus been brought on the same footing as civilian employees of the government — if s/he has been posted at a peace station as recently as January of this year.
However, the EC has been instructed to ensure that politicians don’t canvass for votes in military cantonments. This may somewhat compromise a soldier’s right to political information, but it seems a fair compromise as cantonments are in cities where enough information is available. There is another important issue, however, which concerns lakhs of troops in non-peace stations. The system of postal ballots must work efficiently and speedily so that their vote is not rendered meaningless. At stake is the citizen’s basic right to vote.
