Page 100 - Conducting Elections during COVID-19

82 INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENCES OF CONDUCTING ELECTIONS DURING COVID-19

d. Polling officials – special training, redundancy, preventive kit.
e. Postal ballot – it’s possible utilisation as a measure in itself or/and as a measure of ‘early
voting’?
f. No. of Polling stations – iwhether a single polling and, infected voters could be accommodated
by a time sequence for polling in last one hour or, a separate polling booth needed?

g. Validation by State COVID-19 designated official of all SoPs for access, travel, interstate /
intrastate that may be required.
(i) Additional staff & resources & safety protocols
(ii) SVEEP strategies

2.6 The strategy which was worked on was that each CEO interacted with State Govts nodal officer
for COVID – 19 and sensitised them to the steps needed to conduct all stages of the poll,
including, the polling and the counting processes. On the basic axis of social distancing, the
CEO’s inventorised the requests of material, manpower, transportation, advance information,
training, contingencies, and layout designs.
2.7 Using “Postal Ballot”; “early elections” and “simultaneous polls at multiple locations” – were the
three options considered.
3. Response of the ECI to the COVID- 19 circumstances

3.1 The Commission directed the 8 State Governments to appoint a COVID-19 officer.
3.2 No centralised SOP was issued to deal with the special situation, in view of State specific
circumstances.
3.3 From June 1 2020 & upto June 18 2020 all CEOs developed very specific plans, including
contingency plan (as last minute infections would be required to be responded to], to deal with
COVID-19 suspected, quarantined, positive and hospitalised cases.

3.4 Training to personnel and advance information (including do’s & don’ts) to all Stakeholders were
ensured.
3.5 In terms of categorisation of COVID-19 affected electors i.e. COVID-19 suspected, COVID-19
positive; COVID-19 recovered (but in quarantine); COVID-19 hospitalised – it was the last
category of elector i.e. COVID-19 hospitalised – which the Commission assessed as requiring a
commonality of response. A ‘Postal Ballot (PB)’ approach was adopted by the Commission vide
its order and Notification dated 17.6.2020 to deal with cases of hospitalised voters.

3.6 All electors were provided Voters’ Guide for facilitation.
3.7 While practically, COVID-19 response framework of all CEOs was broadly common, the following
variations were approved: -
• Jharkhand created a separate polling booth / station for COVID-19 cases. All other CEOs
provisioned for voting of such cases after all others had voted.
• In term of violet marker pen, only 1 CEO provisioned for single-time use & discard – while others
provisioned for a continuous sanitisation protocol.
• The logistics in terms of polling and counting stations layout, facilitation, transportation, prior
information, timing and, preventive gear / materials etc.- the detailed planning by CEO’s proved
remarkably accurate-with NO COMPLAINT at all on this count. (see Annexure II for details)
• On June 19 2020, only a single case of a MLA in Rajasthan, whose international travel circumstance
was not documented with the RO/CEO and thus occasioned the only COVID-19 un-anticipated
voter of the Poll. The said elector was processed on line of “suspected case” category & was
facilitated to vote after all other electors had voted. One COVID-19 positive elector, well-
identified in time, from MP, become the first COVID-19 positive voter in India.

3.8 On June 19 2020, out of 984 eligible voters, 967 voted. The absentees were not on account
of COVID-19 circumstances. The results to all 19 seats were declared on the same day itself.
No follow-up complaint of the election process itself becoming a cause of spread of COVID-19
was encountered or reported till date. Though legal challenges were mounted on the actions and
decisions of the ECI, in the conduct of the said polls, none survives.