Out of your scope: Law ministry to parliamentary panel on ONOE on reverting to ballot papers

New Delhi: The question of holding elections using ballot papers does not fall under the ambit of the joint committee of Parliament examining the two bills on simultaneous polls to the Lok Sabha and state legislative assemblies, the Union law ministry is learnt to have said. Reverting to the ballot paper system was a "suggestion" made by some of the members of the joint committee and the law ministry was to respond to it in writing. While the ministry's Legislative Department gave elaborate responses to a variety of questions posed to it by the committee, it did not give a direct reply on the suggestion on the ballot paper system. The ministry is learnt to have said that the suggestion on the use of the ballot paper system was "out of scope" of the parliamentary panel.

Sources explained that the committee is mandated to examine the bills on simultaneous polls -- the Constitution (129th Amendment) Bill and the Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill -- and give its report on whether they are sound enough for the purpose or need changes. Using electronic voting machines (EVMs) or ballot paper for casting votes is not the subject the panel is examining, they underlined. While the Constitution (129th Amendment) Bill lays down a legal framework to hold the Lok Sabha and assembly polls together, the Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill seeks to align the terms of legislative assemblies of Delhi, Puducherry and Jammu and Kashmir for the purpose of holding joint elections. Delhi, Puducherry, and Jammu and Kashmir are the three union territories with legislative assemblies. The government has on multiple occasions told Parliament that it does not favour returning to the ballot paper system and the Supreme Court too has weighed in favour of using EVMs. The top court recently rejected pleas for reviving paper ballots, holding that suspicions regarding tampering of voting machines were "unfounded".

The sources said that while the ministry answered some of the questions, some others were sent to the Election Commission for a calibrated response. The ministry has also told the committee that holding simultaneous polls to the Lok Sabha and state assemblies is not undemocratic and does not hurt the federal structure. It is learnt to have asserted that simultaneous elections were held in the past before the cycle was broken due to various reasons, including the imposition of President's rule in some states. Following the adoption of the Constitution, elections to the Lok Sabha and all state assemblies were conducted simultaneously from 1951 to 1967, the ministry noted. The first general elections to the Lok Sabha and state assemblies were held together in 1951-52, a practice that continued for three subsequent general elections in 1957, 1962 and 1967. However, this cycle of synchronised elections was disrupted in 1968 and 1969 due to the premature dissolution of some state legislative assemblies.

The fourth Lok Sabha was also dissolved prematurely in 1970, with fresh elections held in 1971. Unlike the first, second and third Lok Sabha, which completed their full five-year terms, the term of the fifth Lok Sabha was extended until 1977 under Article 352 because of the declaration of Emergency. Since then, only a few Lok Sabha terms have lasted the full five years, such as the 8th, 10th, 14th and 15th. Others, including the 6th, 7th, 9th, 11th, 12th and 13th were dissolved early, a government explainer on 'one nation, one election' earlier said. State assemblies have faced similar disruptions over the years. Premature dissolutions and term extensions have become a "recurring challenge", the government said. "These developments have firmly disrupted the cycle of simultaneous elections, leading to the current pattern of staggered electoral schedules across the country," it observed. Citing a report of the high-level committee on 'one nation, one election', the explainer said simultaneous polls promote consistency in governance. "Due to the ongoing cycle of elections in various parts of the country, political parties, their leaders, legislators and both state and central governments often focus their efforts on preparing for upcoming elections rather than prioritising governance," it said, citing the "rationale" for holding simultaneous polls as recommended by the panel headed by former president Ram Nath Kovind.