A delegation of opposition parties, including Congress, met with the Election Commission on Sunday. During this meeting, the opposition leaders raised the issue of postal ballots with the Election Commission. The opposition leaders argued that postal ballots should be counted first during the vote counting process. Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi stated that postal ballots are a well-known procedure and often play a decisive role in the election results. He urged the Election Commission to make it mandatory, as it was before, to count postal ballots first. This is the third time a multi-party delegation has met with the Election Commission. The most crucial issue is that postal ballots can significantly influence the election results.
पोस्टल बैलेट चुनाव के मामले में निर्णायक साबित होते हैं। ये प्रक्रिया चुनाव के परिणाम को पूरी तरह से बदल सकती है।
नियम के अनुसार पोस्टल बैलेट की गिनती पहले की जाती है, जिसके कुछ समय बाद EVM की गिनती शुरु की जा सकती है।
इसमें सबसे जरूरी ये है कि पोस्टल बैलेट का परिणाम, EVM से… pic.twitter.com/k5p9AEH7JQ
Abhishek Manu Singhvi emphasized that the Election Commission's rules state that postal ballots should be counted first. This has been reiterated multiple times through various letters and guidelines. In 2019, it was explicitly stated that the counting of postal ballots should begin first, followed by the counting of EVMs. However, the counting of EVMs cannot be completed or the final result declared until the entire result of the postal ballots is announced. This means that it is mandatory to declare the result of postal ballots first after their counting.
Despite this, Singhvi mentioned that the Election Commission has changed this rule through new guidelines, which is not permissible by law. A rule cannot be changed through guidelines. The new guidelines have removed the previous 2019 guideline. The direct and simple consequence of this is that even after the complete counting of EVMs, it is no longer mandatory to announce the result of postal ballots.
Singhvi noted that there have been instances where the decision has swung from north to south or east to west based on postal ballots. He asserted that a rule cannot be changed based on a guideline within the law. Furthermore, he emphasized that postal ballots play a decisive role and should be counted first. For a level playing field and free and fair elections, the old rule should be reinstated.
