Opinion: Developed elections in India? Understand how the long election process is becoming a hindrance

Ashok Malik:With a sigh of collective relief, India is preparing for the last day of voting in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections on Saturday. As exciting as democracy is, the duration of the election process is becoming longer. It has exhausted candidates and campaigners and, even more, citizens. The election season actually began in January. It will be the end of June unless a new government and ministers are formed, and pending key civil service appointments are cleared. In short, the country will have devoted six months to the elections. While the people’s mandate should always be without exception, this long period invites some questions.

Can the time taken for elections be reduced?

Policy making is suspended due to elections. Even with good intentions, an inertia develops in the government – ​​whether in New Delhi or in the states. Even routine decision making processes are affected. Business and investment clarity, whether between domestic or international stakeholders, is affected. As the number of voters increases, such a time limit will become increasingly impractical. It is reasonable to ask whether India can reduce the time taken by making the election process more efficient. A modernizing economy and a politics that is responsive to the demands of society are equally worthy. Ease of living and ease of doing business need to be complemented not only by ease of voting, but also by ease of election campaigning and ease of conduct of elections.

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Demand for paradigm change

In recent years, the Election Commission has made tireless efforts to advance the election process. Since 2004, EVMs have become the norm. Rapid revision of voter list, smooth issuance of voter ID cards and significant increase in the number of polling stations are commendable achievements. However, in the late 2030s, the next election calls for not incremental change, but a paradigm shift. With unprecedented internal migration, the use of postal ballot will not only increase but will also increase significantly. Voting from home is currently limited to people above 85 years of age or physically handicapped. An increase will be seen in this also. In such a situation, voting from the existing ballot paper of postal ballot can take digital or online form with necessary measures. Even in the absence of this, voting facilities other than polling stations will need to be matched with demographics. As a result, staffing and other material requirements must be estimated. This will continue continuously. In such a situation, preparations for 2029 start in 2024 only.

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Need to change voting timings

It is necessary to take into account the evolution of the internal habits and lifestyle of the society in the election programme. In Britain, voting takes place exactly a month after our election results are announced. Polling stations are open from 7 am and close at 10 pm. In India, which borrowed many election practices from Britain, they close at 6 pm. This is surprising. In summer, much of Indian social and economic life – even going to the market for groceries – takes place after sunset. Perhaps in the 1950s, it was mandatory to vote only during daylight hours due to inadequate electricity, poor passenger transport and security concerns. Eight decades later, it needs revision.

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It is important to take care of dates

True, the election dates avoid traditional holidays and festivals. Shouldn’t the Election Commission consider other parameters also? This year voting took place on Saturday in Delhi. Earlier Thursday was the holiday of Buddha Purnima. Earlier that week, school summer vacations began. The concept of long weekend holidays is a relatively recent addition to India. But, especially in urban constituencies, such potential clashes need to be synchronized with the voting calendar. Otherwise this will affect the voting percentage.

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difference in voting dates

A deeper challenge in the Lok Sabha elections is to reduce the gap between successive rounds of multi-phase elections. In 2024, there has been a gap of 7 to 10 days. In this, the time interval is appropriate in terms of movement of security forces and other arrangements. For example, could increasing resources, hiring more aircraft, or simply better coordination reduce this period? If so, the elections could be held in early summer rather than dragging on until peak summer. Such an effort is not about political conversation. This requires a logical and systematic exercise involving the Election Commission, Home Ministry, Education Ministry and state governments. This would require harmonizing the dates of school examinations every fifth year. Again, it is advisable that in the interest of predictability and regularity, this scheme is started well before 2029 and future elections.

Why the gap of 2 days?

Serious consideration should be given to eliminating the 48-hour period between the end of campaigning and voting. This will add two days between voting cycles. 48 hours of ‘silence’ was an idealistic rule formulated in a simpler era. This gave voters ‘a quiet time’ to consider the speeches, promises and manifestos of the candidates and parties and make a conscious choice. Today, campaigning stops at the local level, but campaigning continues in the media and social media even while voting is ongoing. Speeches from other states and constituencies – where voting takes place at a later date – are being targeted at voters of that day. In such a situation, what is achieved by this gap of 48 hours? Short term elections are not merely a civic convenience. It encourages clean politics. The longer the election process, the more money the parties will need. Essentially, this campaign promotes familiar patterns and distortions of money. It also has manifold impacts on governance and public life. In such a situation, the responsibility lies on the Election Commission and the incoming government.
(The author is a partner at The Asia Group and chairman of its India practice.)