THOUGHT PROVOKING..... SOLDIERS have been unable to exercise the right to vote, granted to every citizen above the age of 18 years under the Constitution, despite a Supreme Court order . Over 23 lakh personnel of the armed forces and the paramilitary forces cannot vote because, unlike the civilian population, they are not allowed to register as voters at their places of posting. The other options available to them, such as postal ballot and proxy voting, do not really work on the ground. This situation is the result of a Government of India rule which says that personnel of the armed forces can only register for voting at their places of posting if they have been residing there for at least three years with their families. This rule does not apply to civilians, who are only required to be residents for a minimum of six months in order to register themselves as voters in their places of posting. Anyone familiar with the posting patterns of armed forces personnel would know that it is almost impossible for them to fulfil this condition, with the result that they end up being denied their right to franchise. It is not as if armed forces personnel were never allowed to vote. Until 1969, they could register as voters in their places of posting. In 1969, at Wokha in Nagaland, the losing candidate moved the Guwahati High Court, claiming that the election result had been impacted by the large number of Assam Rifles personnel who voted against him. He argued that the soldiers, who were not ordinarily residents of the area, could not be allowed to vote. The High Court, however, upheld the result, dismissing his plea. The matter reached the Supreme Court and, in 1971, the Supreme Court too dismissed the appeal, with costs. The Election Commission of India (ECI) had then, as respondents, stoutly defended the soldiers’ right to vote at their places of posting. But despite the verdict, the government came out with a special order in 1972 stating that soldiers were entitled to vote through postal ballots and proxy voting only and that in order to register as voters at their places of posting, they should have resided there for three years with their families.
Posted on: Tue, 04 Mar 2014 08:26:45 +0000
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