press trust of india
New Delhi, Oct 19: The Election Commission will take a call on the dates of Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Goa, Manipur and Uttarakhand, due early next year, based on the inputs provided by security forces and state law and order machinery, Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi said Wednesday. He said the schedule will be finalised keeping in mind the weather and examination schedule. “We are trying to assess the requirement of security forces, climate and exam schedule — all these inputs are being taken into consideration. Only then we will be able to say whether they will be staggered or multi-phase,” the CEC told reporters on the sidelines of an event.
To another question on the subject, he said, “As far as the schedule is concerned, the Commission has not given a thought as yet.” While the term of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly ends in May next, the terms of assemblies of Punjab, Goa, Manipur and Uttarakhand will end in March, 2017. Against the backdrop of Ram temple issue hogging the limelight in Uttar Pradesh again, he was asked whether he thinks the Commission should be given powers to prevent political parties from making statements in poll-bound states where elections have not yet been announced.
Skirting the issue, Zaidi said once the polls are announced and the model code comes into force, the EC will ensure its compliance in letter and spirit. Meanwhile, the idea of compulsory voting has not been found practical, Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi said Wednesday, months after the government rejected a similar demand in the Lok Sabha. “Issue of compulsory voting as prevalent in some countries has been a matter of discussion earlier…we found the idea not so practical. But we will like to hear,” he said. He was addressing an international conference on voter awareness here.
In February while responding to a private member’s Bill introduced in the Lok Sabha on compulsory voting, the then Law Minister D V Sadananda Gowda had said though he appreciated the intention of the members, it would not be possible for the government to introduce compulsory voting and penalise those who failed to exercise their franchise. The Law Commission in its report on electoral reforms submitted in March last had also decided against recommending compulsory voting by terming it as “highly undesirable” for a variety of reasons such as being undemocratic, illegitimate, expensive, unable to improve quality political participation and awareness, and difficult to implement.
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