POSTAL BALLOTS

1. Context

2. What are Postal Ballots?

• A restricted set of voters can exercise postal voting. Through this facility, a voter can cast her vote remotely by recording her preference on an official ballot paper and sending it back to the election officer before counting.
• Members of the armed forces like the Army, Navy, and Air Force, members of the armed police force of a state (serving outside the state), government employees posted outside India, and their spouses are entitled to vote only by post.
• In other words, they can’t vote in person. Voters under preventive detention can also vote only by post.
• Special voters such as the President of India, Vice President, Governors, Union Cabinet ministers, Speaker of the House, and government officers on poll duty have the option to vote by post. But they have to apply through a prescribed form to avail of this facility.
• There is also a facility for absentee voters to vote through PBs. These voters are those who are unable to physically cast their vote due to their service conditions.
• For instance, railway employees who are posted outside their home state are counted as absentee voters.
• In 2020, the Election Commission (EC) introduced the facility of PBs for senior citizens, people with disabilities (PwD), and those under Covid-19 quarantine.
• In the Gujarat elections this year, 8.6 lakh senior citizens and PwDs registered to vote, according to reports from the Gujarat Election Commission Office.

3. How are voters using Postal Ballots?

• The Returning Officer (RO) is supposed to print ballot papers within 24 hours of the last date of nomination withdrawal and dispatch them within a day,  to ensure that voters have enough time to receive the ballots, cast their vote, and return the ballots to the RO on time.
• The voters are supposed to mark their preference such that “the intention of the voter to vote for a particular candidate is clear beyond any reasonable doubt.”
• Unclear or improper marking can lead to the PB getting rejected.
• Alongside the ballot, the envelope containing the PB also contains a declaration by the voter in Form 13-A which must be appropriately filled in for the vote to count with attestation from an official that marks the eligibility of the voter to avail of this facility.

4. Counting postal ballots

• According to EC rules, All PBs received by the RO up to the hour fixed for the commencement of counting must be counted.
• Thus even if one’s PB arrives at the office of the RO on the morning of counting, it can still be counted as long as it reaches before the commencement of counting itself.
• Each counting table receives not more than 500 ballots in each round with up to four tables dedicated to calculating just PBs.
• On a counting table, an Assistant Returning Officer (ARO), one counting supervisor, two counting assistants, and a micro-observer are present. Persons involved in postal ballot counting are specifically trained in all aspects of postal ballot voting. Each table also has one counting agent representing each candidate.

A PB paper will be rejected on the following grounds

• If no vote is recorded thereon;
• If votes are given on it in favor of more than one candidate;
• If it is a spurious ballot paper;
• If it has been so damaged or mutilated that its identity as the genuine ballot paper
  cannot be established;
• If it is not returned in the appropriate cover/envelope that was sent to the voter by
  the RO.
• If the mark indicating the vote is made in such a way that it is doubtful to make out
  the candidate to whom the vote has been given; or.
• If it bears any mark or writing by which the voter can be identified.

5. Returning Officer

• To designate the counting centers and get them approved by the Commission well in advance;
  To send notice to the candidates about the place, date, and time of counting of votes;
• To send notice to the candidates about the place, date, and time of counting of votes;
• To appoint and train counting staff;
• To count the votes and declare the result.

• ROs themselves do not count all votes but verify the counting at multiple stages and announce the results.
• They are the final authority in the matter of vote counting in an election. Assist the RO, the EC also appoints Assistant Returning Officers (AROs) to assist the RO in carrying out all the duties.
• In the case of multiple counting centers in a constituency, each center will be under the supervision of one ARO. The number of AROs appointed can vary, depending on the requirement of the constituency.
• Generally, the District Magistrate is the ex-officio RO in Lok Sabha elections while the sub-Divisional Magistrate is the RO in state assembly elections.

6. Counting Supervisors and Assistants

• A counting room will have multiple counting tables with each counting a set number of postal ballots/EVMs on a round-to-round basis.
• On each table, there is a counting supervisor and up to two assistants who do the actual counting. They should be gazetted officers and appointed by the RO.
• They receive specific training about the tasks they are expected to undertake. For instance, for those counting postal ballots, the training is different from that received for
  counting EVM votes.

7. EC-appointed Observers

• The Election Commission appoints observers at each counting room, who are supposed to record the proceedings and file a report.
• They are generally employees of the government of India and are tasked with the duty to oversee the overall functioning of the election apparatus.
• Micro-observers are appointed for each table where votes are counted. Observers are also supposed to randomly verify votes counted for some EVMs in each round of counting.
• Overall, they are the eyes and ears of the Election Commission on the ground and are there to ensure that all procedures are being followed.

8. Candidates and Counting Agents

• Candidates who were on the ballot are also allowed in the counting room along with their representatives. All parties and candidates send counting agents to ensure that votes are counted fairly and according to procedures and lodge complaints if any.
• These counting agents are bound by a certain code prescribed in the Handbook for counting agents and must follow the ECs instructions to not disrupt the counting process.

9. Security

For Prelims & Mains