Election Commission Postal Ballot Rules Update | Earlier postal ballots were taken home, now they have to be returned within stipulated time.

The Election Commission had said that if a voter keeps the postal ballot with him for a long time then he may come under pressure from political parties and vote. (concept image)

Assembly elections are to be held in Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Mizoram, Madhya Pradesh and Telangana later this year. In which the employees deployed on election duty will have to vote through postal ballot at the convenience centers only. The amendment related to this has come into effect on 23 August.

The Election Commission had recommended changes to the Conduct of Elections Rules 1961 to the Union Law Ministry in September 2023. So that it can be decided that the employees deployed on election duty can vote at the convenience center also.

On this, the Election Commission had said that if a voter keeps the postal ballot with him for a long time, then he can vote under the pressure of political parties. To prevent possible misuse of voters’ votes, the Law Ministry had come out with a notification to amend the election conduct rules.

Now the rules have been changed and a new section 18A has been added. It has been said that postal ballot will be given to the employee posted on election duty. After voting, the employee will have to give the postal ballot to the Returning Officer at the Facilitation Center within the stipulated time.

Earlier employees used to take postal ballot home
Before this rule was introduced, the employees deployed on election duty often did not vote at the convenience centre, rather they used to take the postal ballot to their homes. Employees had time to submit postal ballots before vote counting began. In such a situation, they used to put the postal ballot in any ballot box before the counting started.

The first phase of voting in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections was held on 11 April 2019. Whereas the counting of votes took place on May 23. An official said that voting at the convenience centers set up for voters will make the election process free, transparent and fair.