Citizens’ Collective launches national campaign, urges EC to ensure electoral transparency
New Delhi: A collective of concerned citizens, civil society organisations, and technical experts has launched a nationwide campaign for accountability in the electoral process, raising serious concerns over the functioning of the Election Commission of India (ECI) and the lack of transparency in the conduct of elections.
Coordinated by the platform ‘Vote for Democracy,’ the group has submitted a detailed memorandum to the ECI, reiterating six key demands aimed at restoring public faith in the electoral system. The memorandum comes in the wake of mounting scepticism around the use of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and allegations of procedural manipulation, particularly after recent elections in Haryana, Maharashtra, and Delhi.
Among the central questions posed in the memorandum are:
- Why are the complete past and present voters’ lists not available in a searchable database on the ECI website?
- Why are Forms 17C, which record the number of votes polled, and other aggregate voter count data not publicly accessible in a digital format?
- Why is there no transparency in publishing Forms 9, 10, 11, 11A, and 11B that document additions and deletions in the voter rolls?
- Why is the EVM source code not open for public inspection to ensure software integrity?
- Why is there no full disclosure of Symbol Loading Unit (SLU) contents with oversight from independent technical experts?
- Why are VVPAT slips not counted in their entirety, and why can voters not verify and deposit the slips themselves?
The group has termed India’s current electronic voting system as semi-automated and riddled with vulnerabilities, demanding immediate systemic reforms. The six specific demands include:
1. Making all voter rolls—past and present—searchable and publicly accessible online.
2. Publishing Form 17C data from each booth and constituency in a searchable format.
3. Releasing Forms 9, 10, 11, 11A, and 11B detailing voter roll revisions.
4. Making the EVM source code open-source for public and expert scrutiny.
5. Publishing SLU contents and allowing monitoring by independent technical experts.
6. Restoring the integrity of the voting process by allowing voters to physically verify and deposit their VVPAT slips, followed by 100% slip counting. Final vote tallies, they argue, should be based solely on these physical paper records.
The memorandum, endorsed by 83 prominent individuals including former civil servants, judges, computer scientists, journalists, and grassroots activists, highlights concerns over the increasing opacity in electoral procedures. Among the signatories are MG Devasahayam, former IAS and Army officer; computer science experts Madhav Deshpande and Professor Harish Karnick; Justice D. Hariparanthaman and Justice B.G. Kolse Patil (retired High Court judges); Aruna Roy (Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan); Venkatesh Nayak (CHRI); Anjali Bhardwaj; E.A.S. Sarma, IAS (Retd); Teesta Setalvad; Prashant Tandon; and Raju Parulekar.
The signatories cited a recent CSDS survey that shows only 28% of Indians trust the ECI today, indicating serious democratic backsliding. They criticised the Commission’s perceived closeness to the political executive and its reluctance to act against violations of the Model Code of Conduct, including hate speech during elections.
During a recent three-hour national consultation with people’s organisations and civil society groups, participants highlighted the urgent need for systemic reform and greater transparency. State-wide consultations with expert committees are expected to follow.
Participants raised serious concerns over the integrity of voter rolls. In Maharashtra alone, 37 lakh new voters were reportedly added in the five months leading up to elections, without a credible explanation from the ECI. Similar concerns about large-scale voter additions and deletions have been flagged in states like Haryana, Delhi, and West Bengal.
The campaign aims to create national consensus around the need to replace EVMs with paper ballots, citing growing public mistrust. It seeks to address all facets of electoral conduct, from the misuse of the Model Code to the manipulation of voter lists, demanding a level playing field for all political actors.
The memorandum calls on the Election Commission to open itself to dialogue with citizens, technical experts, and political stakeholders. It warns that continued silence or inaction will deepen the erosion of public confidence in India’s democratic institutions.
The nationwide campaign is being led by several prominent voices including MG Devasahayam (Citizens Commission on Elections) and Teesta Setalvad (Vote for Democracy). A detailed programme outlining the next steps of the campaign is expected to be released shortly.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
How Yashasvi found inner Jais-Wall to add another arrow in India’s ODI quiver
Visakhapatnam (PTI): Over 0.6: Yashasvi Jaiswal shouldered the arms as Marco Jansen’s tempting ball outside the off-stump found a safe passage to Quinton de Kock’s gloves.
Jaiswal did not attempt to play the cut. Jansen had a knowing smile, and De Kock clapped in mock appreciation.
It was a significant moment in the series-deciding third ODI against South Africa, which India eventually danced to a 9-wicket win. It was the earliest sign of Jaiswal’s transformed mindset.
It was an open statement: Tonight he would not be playing that edgy 'Jais-ball' from ball one, and will make most of a chance that came his way because of an injury to Shubman Gill, the original opener and also the regular skipper of the side.
That edginess and urge to dominate bowlers had consumed Jaiswal at Ranchi and Raipur, but here he eschewed all such thoughts.
When Proteas new ball bowlers tightened their lines, Jaiswal responded by leaving the ball and showing the patience to carry his bat. He seemed to have understood the rhythm of one-day cricket better now.
Head coach Gautam Gambhir touched on it.
"When you come into white-ball cricket from red-ball cricket, you think you have to bat aggressively. But you don't have to play aggressively because if you split the one-day format into 30 overs and 20 overs, it will be very easy. If you play 30 overs as ODIs, and the quality that Jaiswal has, if he bats for 30 overs, he will be batting close to 100. Even after that, you have 20 overs left, which you can look at as a T20 match."
It is only about finding a template. This was just Jaiswal's fourth game. The moment he figures out which tempo he needs to bat in one-day cricket, the sky is the limit," Gambhir said.
Jaiswal’s maiden ODI hundred here pre-validated Gambhir’s view.
The 23-year-old’s first fifty came in 75 balls, while getting some expert guidance from Rohit Sharma at the non-striker's end.
But the next 50 runs arrived in 35 balls, as the left-hander played a more familiar game.
In the phase between 22 and 26.1 overs, Jaiswal faced 11 balls and struck six boundaries to make a total 27 runs.
It was a thrilling maximisation of the platform he laid for himself with patience early on.
The calculated acceleration might have made Virat Kohli, with whom Jaiswal added 116 runs here, proud as this was an innings straight out of his playbook.
Patience will also be Jaiswal's biggest ally in the next few months as he wouldn't know when his next ODI appearance will be. Skipper Gill is fit for New Zealand series in January and after that India play a ODI game in July 2026 during the away series against England where Jaiswal can only fit in if one among skipper and veteran KL Rahul get injured.
Gill and, possibly, Shreyas Iyer too will be back for the ODI series against New Zealand next month, and Jaiswal is currently not in the national T20I scheme of things.
So, he might just have to play the waiting game. But Gambhir looked at the larger picture of creating a stronger pool of players for bigger assignments in future.
“Look, try and give them opportunities wherever we can because we still want a reasonable group of players — probably around 20-25 players before the (2027) World Cup. But once your captain and vice-captain is back, obviously they are your starters.
“But yes, what they had to do, they've done. More importantly, I think they need to keep themselves motivated because they should be ready whenever they get that opportunity, and grab that,” Gambhir explained.
Jaiswal ticked a box in the third ODI with his maidan ton and Ruturaj Gaikwad chipped in with a hundred at Raipur, leaving Gambhir pleased as punch.
“It's important that young boys come into the setup, grabbing their opportunities. Yashasvi…we’ve seen how much quality he has, especially what he does in Test cricket.
“Obviously, it's just the start of his career in white ball cricket. Hopefully, he has a massive future ahead,” he added.
And it will be closely knitted with India’s too.
