The election commission (EC) is in a dilemma over making a decision whether unlimited or specific number of voters will be allowed to cast their votes if their fingerprints don't match.
While making national identity cards, fingerprints are collected from every voter. Voters’ fingerprint is matched again when casting vote through the electronic voting machine (EVM).
If someone’s fingerprint doesn’t match, assistant presiding officers using their own fingerprints can allow them to vote.
There are mainly two different parts of the EVM. One is the control unit and the other is the ballot unit (that contains candidates’ names and symbols).
When it comes to voting through the EVM, legal voters are identified by using voters’ fingerprints on the control unit. And, EVM’s ballot unit activates when the fingerprints match.
But fingerprints of many voters do not match due to various reasons. In that case, the assistant presiding officer activates the ballot unit with his fingerprint. The voter then goes to the voting booth and cast the vote.
This is known as the power to 'overwrite' (the way an assistant presiding officer allows a voter to vote, if his or her fingerprint doesn’t match). However, election experts believe it’s possible to rig the election, if the assistant presiding officers misuse this power.
It has been stated in the National Parliament Election (Electronic Voting Machine) Rules that if a voter's fingerprint doesn’t match, the assistant presiding officer can issue EVM ballot for the voter at the rate fixed by the EC after being confirmed of the voter’s identity.
Concerned sources say, initially the assistant presiding officers could offer this facility for up to 25 per cent of the voters. Now they are permitted to do this for only one per cent of the total voters of a particular centre. The EC authorises the presiding officers with this power, issuing circulars before every election.
Jhenaidah municipality election was held through EVM in September. The EC then issued a circular saying that the assistant presiding officer can issue electronic ballot for 1 per cent of the total voters after identification.
According to sources concerned, the EC is thinking of specifying how much of this power will be rendered to the assistant presiding officers in the law. For this, a proposal for adding a sub-section to national election related law, the Representation of the People Order (RPO) has been drafted.
The draft says that the presiding or the assistant presiding officers can issue electronic ballot using their own fingerprint to a maximum of 1 per cent of voters. Although the proposal was raised in the commission meeting on Monday, it was not discussed.
Sources say that the election commissioners are in discussion among themselves on different argument for and against the proposal. The argument in favour of the proposal is that there are criticisms and doubts centering the method. Many have been saying that this leaves scopes of rigging votes. The assistant presiding officer can cast as many votes as he likes. So, specifying it in the law will reduce the controversy.
On the contrary, the argument against it is that it is the constitutional duty of the EC to ensure right of all voters. A crisis may rise there, if it is determined by law that maximum one per cent of the voters can be given this opportunity. There will be problems, if there’s any incident of more than one per cent of voters’ fingerprints not matching. So, the EC is pondering upon an alternative as well.
That is to keep this power open to use without confining it for a limited number of voters only. The officers will use this power for as many voters as necessary there.
A separate form will be created for this, which will contain the information of which officer issued ballots using their fingerprint for which voters. The form will have signatures of the poling agents too.
Election commissioner Md Ahsan Habib told Prothom Alo, “If the fingerprint of a genuine voter doesn’t match, the presiding officer can activate the digital ballot unit for that person. The commission wants to ensure that the power isn’t abused in any way. The commission is discussing, how this objective can be achieved. There hasn’t been any final decision on that yet.”
However, there is a fear of controversy escalating even more if this power rendered to assistant presiding officers is left unrestrained at their disposal.
It was said in a discussion on EVM organised by Shushashoner Jonno Nagorik (SHUJAN) last August, an analysis of the results of 1991 and 1996 elections showed that the results of more than half of the seats were determined by a margin of only 5 to 10 per cent votes. Allowing presiding officers to 'overwrite' on EVMs could turn into the main instrument for altering results.
In this regard SHUJAN secretary Badiul Alam Majumdar told Prothom Alo no matter what the election commission does there’ll be no use of it. For, EVM itself is an unacceptable and feeble mechanism. Giving this power to the officials leaves scopes for invisible manipulation.
A more important issue than that is the crisis of trust. People neither have trust on EVMs, nor on the EC. The way EC is talking in favour of EVM, is giving rise to people's doubt even more, he added.