E-Paper
Only paper ballots for voting in Parliament’s monsoon session
The Members of Parliament have to maintain social distancing norms as part of the precautionary measures against the viral outbreak
Passing legislations will be a time-consuming affair in the upcoming monsoon session of Parliament, which will be held between September 14 and October 1 and without any weekend breaks, amid the unprecedented raging coronavirus disease (Covid-19) outbreak.
There won’t be any electronic voting system and the lawmakers have to cast their votes through the traditional paper ballots.
The Members of Parliament (MPs) have to maintain social distancing norms, as part of the precautionary measures against the viral outbreak.
As a result, few parliamentarians will be able to retain their own seat.
Going by the plan, Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha MPs will occupy seats in both the Houses and the galleries when Parliament will meet in two separate shifts.
Parliament, akin to Indian elections, has graduated to a more efficient electronic system to cast votes on bills and resolutions.
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However, paper ballots still have a limited use for MPs to rectify their votes in case of any mistake with the electronic system.
The Covid-19 pandemic has led to the scrapping of the use of the electronic voting system during the upcoming truncated monsoon session of Parliament.
“Recording of votes during Divisions, as and when required, will be held under Rule 367A as per the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the Lok Sabha by distribution of slips. Division slips will be provided to those members who are seated in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha chambers and galleries only,” said a notice of the Lok Sabha secretariat on Monday.
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Electronic voting implies instantaneous results and the process takes less than five minutes.
The ballots, including distribution and counting, takes at least around half an hour.
The government wants to pass at least 11 ordinances, including three on farm sector reforms, and a few other pending bills during the packed 18-day Parliament session.
“Members will be supplied with ‘ayes’/‘noes’ printed slips at their seats for recording their votes. ‘ayes’ slips are printed on one side in green and ‘noes’ on its reverse in red, both in English and Hindi languages,” said the notice.
“On the slips, members may record votes of their choice by signing and writing legibly their names, Division numbers and date. Members who desire to record ‘abstention’ may ask for the ‘abstention’ slips,” the notice added.
