‘Didn’t fold ballot paper, violated secrecy’: Why EC cancelled Sena MLA’s vote

On the Shiv Sena MLA Suhas Kande’s vote in the Rajya Sabha elections, the Election Commission said this is a lapse of the statutory and the rule-based scheme of ensuring secrecy of voting

NEW DELHI:The Election Commission (EC) rejected Shiv Sena legislator Suhas Kande’s vote for the Rajya Sabha because he did not fold the ballot paper after casting his vote, violating the voting procedure and secrecy of the ballot paper, according to the EC order issued late on Friday.

Union ministers Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, Gajendra Singh Shekhawat and Jitendra Singh challenged the Maharashtra returning officer’s decision not to cancel Shiv Sena MLA Suhas Kande’s vote in the Rajya Sabha elections (PTI)

The EC, which requisitioned and scanned the video footage of the voting before ruling on the Bharatiya Janata Party’s appeal, concluded that Kande “violated the voting procedure, as specified under Rule 39A (2) (c) of the Conduct of Election Rules, 1961, which in our view has affected the secrecy of the ballot paper cast by him.”

Rule 39A (2) (c) requires a voter to “fold the ballot paper (after recording the vote ) so as to conceal his vote”.

The eight-page order by chief election commissioner Rajiv Kumar and election commissioner Anup Chandra Pandey said Kande did not fold the ballot paper before approaching his party’s authorised agent, showed the ballot paper to the authorised representative from outside the cubicle which allowed persons other than the authorised agent to see the paper and moved towards another cubicle with the unfold ballot paper in hand, which again potentially compromised its secrecy.

The EC decision overruled the findings of the returning officer (RO) who had earlier in the day rejected a bunch of complaints filed by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and leaders of Maharashtra’s ruling coalition Maha Vikas Aghadi, accusing legislators from the other side of violating the rules. The BJP’s complaint against Suhas Kande was among them.

The commission agreed with the RO’s conclusions in the other cases. But in the case of Kande, the two election commissioners said the RO had erred.

“The video recording is clearly inconsistent with the above conclusion of the RO and the observer and special observer and as it can be observed that the said MLA violated the voting procedure and secrecy of the ballot paper cast by him when he exercised his right to vote.

“It is clear that this is a lapse of the statutory and the rule-based scheme of ensuring secrecy of voting,” the two commissioners said, underlining that this was a “fit case” for the RO to have cancelled the vote.

While the Commission invalidated Kande’s vote, the votes of Jitendra Awhad (NCP), Yashomati Thakur (Congress), Sudhir Mungantiwar (BJP) and Ravi Rana (Independent) were considered valid.

Allegations and counter-allegations of malpractices and bias stalled the counting for Rajya Sabha elections in Maharashtra and Haryana on Friday.

Counting in Maharashtra and Haryana started only past Friday midnight as EC officials deliberated on the complaints made by both sides.