Here’s what happens if you accept bribe for votes from Political parties, candidates
Dakshina Kannada DC SASIKANTH SENTHIL explains in video
Mangaluru: Bribing voters in exchange of their votes is a common malpractice during elections by political parties and candidates. The malpractice is seldom reported to the authorities and instead people tend to accept bribe in exchange of the votes.
Most of the voters are aware of the fact that it is illegal on the part of political parties and candidate to bribe voters for their votes. But what many don’t know is the fact that it is also illegal on part of voters to accept bribes from parties and candidates promising to cast their votes in their favour.
Yes, not just giving bribes to voters but accepting bribes for votes is a criminal offence in India and the violators are ought to be tried under criminal charges and shall punished with imprisonment which may extend to one year, or with fine, or with both.
Vartha Bharati met Election Returning Officer of Dakshina Kannada and Deputy Commissioner Sasikanth Senthil to get more information in this regard.
Speaking about the bribing of voters during election he said “Voting is a democratic right in our country and it is the duty of every citizen to use this right with utmost responsibility. Any kind of malpractice or bribery (both giving and taking) or any attempts to influence voters’ is a criminal offence and both the parties involved (in bribery) will be prosecuted under sections of Indian Penal Code (IPC) including section 171 (B)”.
“Ethical voting is very important and is a duty of every citizen of the country. Parties and candidates try to influence voters not only through bribing or giving financial bounties but also on the lines of caste, religions and communities. Hence we all should make sure that votes are casted on right lines and not under any kind of influence” Senthil added.
Here’s what you can do if you are offered bribe for votes:
Advising people to report any such offers or attempts to influence their votes to the authorities Senthil said “In any scenario, if any political party or candidate makes a bribing offer to you or try to influence your votes in any way, voters should immediately report it to the authorities. We have our toll free helpline and people can reach us by simply dialing 1905 from their phones”.
“Another way to report such activities is cVigil App of Election Commission of India. People can also report such activities using pictures through this app and action will be initiated within 100 minutes of receiving the complaint” Senthil added while urging people to join the authorities in making sure free and fair elections in the constituency.
Election Commission of India had also tweeted urging people to assist ECI by reporting cases of bribery.
Assist #ElectionCommissionofIndia in ensuring free and fair elections.
— ECI #DeshKaMahatyohar (@ECISVEEP) April 6, 2019
Report cases of bribery on #cVIGIL app#YourVoteMatters pic.twitter.com/Qi2Tn5z5Tg
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Draft electoral roll published in Kerala as part of SIR; over 24 lakh names removed
Thiruvananthapuram (PTI): The draft voters’ list prepared as part of the SIR of the electoral roll in Kerala was published by the ECI on Tuesday, where over 24 lakh names have been removed.
Chief Electoral Officer Rathan U Kelkar, addressing a press conference, said the draft list has been published on the Election Commission’s website and copies have also been handed over to political parties.
As many as 2,54,42,352 voters have been included in the draft list, while the names of 24,08,503 electors were removed after completion of the enumeration stage of the Special Intensive Revision.
Of the deleted names, 6,49,885 pertain to deceased persons, 6,45,548 voters were found to be untraceable, and 8,16,221 voters were identified as having permanently shifted from their registered addresses.
In addition, 1,36,029 duplicate voters and 1,60,830 voters falling under other categories were identified.
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Before the revision exercise began, there were 2,78,50,855 voters in the electoral rolls in Kerala. The percentage of names removed from the rolls stands at 8.65 per cent.
Kelkar said objections and grievances related to the draft list can be submitted till January 22, and the final electoral roll will be published on February 21.
Kelkar said that as part of the SIR, a voter mapping exercise was also carried out till December 18.
"We were able to complete 93 per cent of the voter mapping by December 18. Most of the unmapped cases were reported from urban and semi-urban areas such as Thiruvananthapuram, Kottayam and Ernakulam," he said.
He said that the mapping exercise is still continuing.
After the mapping process is completed, electoral registration officers (EROs) will decide on hearings for non-mapped voters.
"Notices will be issued to voters to be heard. The hearings will be decentralised so as not to cause inconvenience to the public," he said.
He said the notices would contain detailed instructions, including the reasons for the hearing and the documents to be produced, and would be served through booth-level officers.
Responding to queries on the high number of untraceable voters, Kelkar said booth-level officers had visited the addresses three times to serve enumeration forms but were unable to locate the voters.
"We made all efforts to trace the voters as directed by the Election Commission," he said.
Kelkar said those whose names are not included in the draft list will have to submit fresh applications for inclusion in the electoral roll.
