The Election Commission of India (EC) on Thursday extended the deadline for submission of comments and suggestions by the public on the proposed changes in electoral management from March 31 to April 30 due to coronavirus outbreak and the nationwide lockdown. In its statement, the EC said: “Some representations have beenreceived to extend the deadline in view of the current situation of lockdown measures to contain Covid-19 in the country.
The Commission has considered the same and extended the deadline of receiving comments to April 30, 2020”.The EC had set up nine working groups after the 2019 Lok Sabhaelections to give recommendations on various aspects of conductingelections. On March 7, it invited comments from citizens andstakeholders on the draft recommendations, which included exploring new voting methods and online versions of voter ID cards.
The working group recommendation was to start online registrationfacilities at the school or college-level for all prospective votersat 17 years of age so they can be enrolled in the electoral roll assoon as they become eligible at 18. The ECI also recommended fourcut-off dates in a year to enroll as a voter. Currently, January 1 isthe qualifying date so those who turn 18 after that date are noteligible to vote the whole year. The EC has proposed January 1, April1, July 1 and October 1 as the qualifying dates, while the LawMinistry has suggested two dates — January 1 and July 1. For politicalparties, the recommendations included online nomination of candidatesand a cap on the spending allowed by parties. Currently, individualcandidates are allowed a limited expenditure on campaigning.
Another recommendation was to impose a “silence period of 48 hours”before polling on social media and print media. Campaigning onelectronic media in the last 48 hours before polling is prohibitedcurrently.