Proxy voting and EPIC confusion

Lukewarm response, proxy voting and confusion marked the polling process in Dimapur. Despite the State election office tipping the poll percentage in the mid 80’s, the long queues normally witnessed on election days were absent, particularly in Dimapur. Reports coming in from various parts of Nagaland, throughout the polling period, painted a picture of sparsely populated polling stations, while security personnel and polling officials had a rather slow day.

In Dimapur, crowds thinned at polling stations by late morning, while some polling stations reported less than 50 percent of votes cast even by afternoon. At one polling booth falling under 1 Dimapur I Assembly Constituency, with an electorate of around 170, the Presiding Officer informed visiting media persons that only 70 votes had been cast by around 1:00pm. At another, around the same time, only 50 percent of the total votes had been cast. Watching the proceedings, streamed live via webcam from selected polling stations across the State, officials on duty appeared relaxed as voters came in to vote at intervals.

Coming to free and fair elections, hope was revived when the Elector Photo Identity Card (EPIC) was introduced. Several incidences of bonafide electors not getting the opportunity to vote were reported, the Right to Adult Franchise lost to proxy voting. “I feel angry and violated since I have been denied my right to vote. I reached the polling station only to learn that someone else had already snatched that privilege from me. And to say I had the EPIC with me all along,” summed up Moarenla Imchen, a teacher by profession. Incidences of one person voting for multiple voters at one go were also reported putting a question mark on ‘One person, one vote’.   

 
Confusion on the legality of ‘voter slips’ also arose as voters already had EPIC issued by the Election Commission. In one polling station in 2 Dimapur II AC, one elector was disallowed from voting after the person failed to produce a ‘voter slip’ issued to registered voters in the lead up to poll day. The person was turned back even after producing the EPIC. An election official queried on this said that ‘voter slips’ were issued with the intent to let voters who already had their names registered on the Electoral Roll but had not received the EPIC; and for registered electors without photo on the Electoral Roll, to vote. The official further explained that a vote could be cast if the voter could produce valid identity proof tallying with the name on the Electoral Roll. According to the official, Dimapur has some 10,000 voters without EPIC.

Furthermore, the EPIC was not without discrepancy. Facts entered incorrectly were reported by several EPIC holders. One woman said that the EPIC issued had her date of birth incorrect despite the election office conducting a series of verification exercises. In one instance, a woman’s photo appeared in the Electoral Roll of two different polling stations. The woman in the photo has her name registered under ward number 11, while her photo, with a different name and address, appeared in ward number 21.