UPGRADE NEEDED TO BRING BACK TRUST IN ELECTION COMMISSION

THE Election Commission (EC) is technologically challenged.

- SHIKHA MUKERJEE

And no, this is not about the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) that have been in the eye of the storm that blew itself all the way up to the Supreme Court.

The system of level playing field and free and fair elections, intrinsic to how governments are elected in a democracy, requires an EC with updated rules and procedures, and capabilities to handle fastpaced changes in technology, especially communication networks. The 73-year-old rules impose a 48-hour silence in public campaigning. There are injunctions on the news media about opinion and exit polls.

There is, however, a gaping hole when it comes to telecasts and webcasts. Television and internet are unregulated and free to deliver campaign content to voters' homes, mobiles, laptops, tablets and desktops, even as voting is in progress in the extraordinarily extended multi-phase polling schedule.

On April 19, when voting was in progress in all 39 constituencies of Tamil Nadu, all five constituencies in Uttarakhand and in 58 of the total 102 constituencies where polls were held, TV and internet were actively engaged in beaming live speeches by political leaders, including PM Narenda Modi. In the states where voting was in progress, political leaders, including supremos of regional parties, were canvassing votes, which was available on local TV channels and, of course, the internet.