EVM, Election Commission, Electoral Bond
3 Es of Indian Elections
12 MARCH, 2024
The 2024 national elections are around the corner, and this will test the resilience, capability, capacity and honesty of the Indian national democracy. The world awaits the conduct of Indian democracy.
It becomes important to showcase that the world’s most extensive set of voters will form a government in 2024 based on pristine transparency and a role model to see how a democracy works.
The fundamental pillar of democracy is elections.
Unfortunately, in the run-up to the election, India is facing severe challenges to the process of elections, those which are so fundamental that they can make and break the nation’s fabric.
We are calling the three fundamentals Es of Indian elections.
The first E is the Election Commission.
The second E is the EVM, the electronic voting machine.
The third E is the Electoral Bonds.
The trust in these three fundamentals is currently at its lowest ebb, and there are serious challenges to the status of each of them.
We will explore each of them and try to create a holistic picture of the upcoming elections.
1st E: Election Commission
As we all know, the Election Commission of India comprises a panel of 3 election commissioners.
Together in a democratic process, the three commissioners make democratic decisions to conduct the affairs of Indian elections, whether it is the national state or others.
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The trust in these three fundamentals is currently at its lowest ebb...
The appointment of election commissioners goes through an ideally serious and intense nomination process, and the candidates are discussed, debated and then decided.
Until a few months ago, when the Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Bill, 2023, was passed, the panel comprised the Chief Justice of India, the Prime Minister, another cabinet rank minister and opposition leader.
However, as the controversies gathered around the election commission, selecting or nominating the best election commissioners was questionably diluted by removing the Chief Justice of India from the panel for selecting the election commission.
The selection panel for election commission no longer remains bipartisan.
In a way, it would not be wrong to view this change in the selection process as an attempt to grab the power to decide the power to select the all-important election commissioners as a political tool.
This political tool of appointing a so-called, ideally neutral election commissioner is pivotal to the health of the Indian democracy.
It has raised serious questions about the conflict of interest of the party and power and controlling the elections in favour of the party in power.
As we know, there are three election commissioners to create a panel for democratic decision-making. Astonishingly, on the eve of the national elections being declared, there is only one remaining.
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The selection panel for election commission no longer remains bipartisan
How these two crucial positions are vacant gravely reflects the state of the democratic process and the direction of Indian electoral democracy.
One of the commissioners retired sometime back, the other one resigned, and there are speculations about the reasons for the latest resignation.
It is worth understanding that this was the same election commissioner whose appointment was again controversial and that the Supreme Court had to be approached to restore the faith in the Election Commission.
All these events do not improve or restore any form of fate and trust in political neutrality and democratic transparency.
2nd E: Electronic Voting Machine
As it is a well-known fact, the electronic voting machine is a black box, and nobody knows how the words are counted. Grave doubts have been raised because of the lack of verifiability of the votes cast.
It is a fundamental issue of utmost importance upon whom rests the faith and credibility of the Indian democracy. Unfortunately, the Indian democracy has to take the accusations about the honesty of the voting machine.
The electronic voting machine, EVM, as we know - which registers the will of the voters, counts the votes that have been cast, and decides the fate of citizens of India, is under the cloud of credibility.
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All these events do not improve or restore any form of fate and trust in political neutrality and democratic transparency
The apprehensions about the EVM go as early as the late 1990s when EVMs were first introduced, and at that time, too - some technical experts and activists had raised concerns about its security and reliability.
Only the essence of time dictates who is questioning the EVM.
When they were once in opposition, members of the current government even wrote a book questioning the EVM.
Now, only the roles have reversed. However, the question about the credibility of EVM remains unanswered to date.
When EVM was introduced, the technology available was not as intrusive and intelligent as it is today; hence, the issue of electronic manipulation did not gain much traction.
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The apprehensions about the EVM go as early as the late 1990s...
Nevertheless, today, in the world of artificial intelligence, where the user’s thoughts can be profiled and controlled by statistical mega calculations of interpolation and extrapolation, the use of electronic devices to run a democracy can be catastrophic.
In short, using EVM means using Deepfake in the world of democracy, and everyone fears that.
So, it is frequently highlighted that the principles of democracy and the rights of the citizens of India can be violated, not legally but conceptually.
The very idea of democracy rests on transparency.
Democracy means that all actions by the government, authorities, and people should be and must be open to scrutiny by its citizens.
Transparency is a tool available to all in democratic India, to “We the People” of this nation, to hold accountable all those in the seat of power.
So, transparency, at the core of any democracy, is unfortunately fading here. It is failing in the case of EVM.
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The very idea of democracy rests on transparency
Someone with control of EVM electronics can play God with our democracy.
It is an opaque black box that those in power can control for their vested interests. Moreover, that is the danger.
No notable democracy in the world uses EVM to decide on the fate of its people.
So, why does India want to use it?
3rd E: Electoral Bond
The third fundamental issue of the Indian elections that is raising serious concerns is the electoral bonds.
It is another issue that has questioned the honesty and transparency of the relationship between the political parties and the role of money in influencing national decision-making.
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Someone with control of EVM electronics can play 'God' with our democracy
The electoral bond system had been made illegal by the Supreme Court, whose decision was primarily based on the concept of transparency, the transparency in the overall democratic system, and the transparency in the elections to the legislatures.
In the pursuit of electoral bonds, in the correction of the damage that the electoral bonds have done to the transparency and honesty of the system, the government is now rolling itself in the storm of preventing the disclosures of the electoral bonds.
Consequently, the most revered bank in India, the State Bank of India, has come into the line of fire.
Today, the State Bank of India is in contempt of the orders of the Supreme Court. It is a stark state of affairs, reflecting very poorly the conduct of a gigantic, revered financial institution in India.
Not only do the electoral bonds have consequences on the perception of the state of elections in India, but the involvement of the negative and controversial role of the State Bank of India will hamper the investors’ confidence in the Indian market.
As a foreign investor, stability is of prime importance. As a foreign investor, any controversy only provokes a rethink on decision making,
and the world is watching the sliding and slipping of fate in the Indian electoral process, the involvement of highly respected financial institutions like SBI and the general controversial mode in the prevailing country.
All this is not good news for those going out of India.
India has come a long way in its journey to establish itself as one of the greatest democracies in the world.
India has come a long way in its journey to establish itself as a destination for investments, manufacturing and institutions.
Those institutions have repeatedly demonstrated their political neutrality, upholding the principles of the Indian constitution.
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...the negative and controversial role of the State Bank of India will hamper the investors’ confidence in the Indian market
Compare it with our neighbours; why will investors go to Pakistan, Sri Lanka, or Bangladesh when they know the nature of uncertainty and democracy in these countries? Why will a global investor look towards Iran as a destination?
Another critical inquiry that Indians must consider is India’s emergence as an alternative to China.
The shift to India is just because India is built upon a robust constitution, which is honoured and upheld by robust neutral institutions.
Democratic processes are a norm in the governance and administration of India; therefore, the investor, big or small, feels safe and secure in the country’s socio-political and financial ecosystem.
Today, all these fundamentals are at threat, risking the credibility of the Indian democracy.
There are faults in the fundamental E’s of the Indian electoral system, and a vital fix is the need of the hour.
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