Moves Punjab and Haryana High Court
Punjab Newsline, Chandigarh-
Punjab Congress president Amarinder Singh Raja Warring today moved the Punjab and Haryana High Court, seeking directions to the State Election Commission that the counting of votes for the Zila Parishad and Block Samiti elections may be videographed.
“Elections should leave no room for doubt. That’s why I’ve moved the Court seeking videography of vote counting in Zila Parishad and Block Samiti polls”, he said, while adding, “people have the right to see that every vote is counted fairly. Transparency is the soul of democracy”.Warring submitted that the counting of votes was an integral, inseparable and decisive part of the election process, continuing till declaration of results. “Despite this settled legal position, the counting of votes in Zila Parishad elections is conducted without mandatory videography, leaving no objective or verifiable record of the most sensitive stage of the election," he noted in the petition.
He said, "absence of videography renders the counting process opaque, vulnerable to arbitrariness and allegations of manipulation, thereby undermining public confidence in democratic institutions and violating various Articles of the Constitution of India”.
Free and fair elections form part of the basic structure of the Constitution, and transparency at the counting stage is indispensable to uphold this mandate, he added. Warring submitted that he did not seek to challenge any election or result, but preventive institutional safeguards by way of mandatory videography of the counting process, which is a minimal, reasonable and constitutionally permissible measure.
He pointed out, videography neither interferes with the election process nor violates secrecy of ballot, rather it strengthens accountability, deters malpractice and reduces post-election disputes.