THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Even as casting votes in elections is considered to be a secret affair, the option of ‘open voting’ has been misused by political parties. Open voting is an option for blind and infirm voters, wherein the presiding officer of a polling station could allow the voter to take a companion with him to vote. Though strict procedures were prescribed to check fraudulent practices, those could not be implemented effectively.
“There have been reports that the option is being widely misused especially in strongholds of political parties. Hence new conditions were incorporated over these years. But even then the scope for misuse could not be fully plugged,” said an election official.
As per norms, one person who acts as a companion voter for one blind or infirm voter could not act as companion voter for another blind or infirm voter. However, it is difficult to enforce it especially when a person acts as companion in different booths. Moreover, it is for the presiding officer to decide whether a person is infirm or not.
There is no need to produce any medical certificate. Often the presiding officers will have no option but to go by the demand of the voter for open voting, sources pointed out. Though there were proposals that open voting should be given only to those in the disability census, those were yet to be implemented, said sources.
