Online voting may need to be examined due to coronavirus: Additional Solicitor General

Additional Solicitor General Satya Pal Jain has suggested that election laws may need to be amended with the possible introduction of online voting as social distancing has become a necessity due to COVID-19.

In the current situation, it may not be possible to permit voting in polling booths where people assemble in large numbers and the government may have to examine introducing online voting or postal voting to avoid large scale gatherings in polling booths, he opined.

Jain was addressing a webinar on Thursday organised by Panjab University here on Election Laws in India.

Jain, who is also a senior BJP leader, pointed out that the Election Commission itself over the last two months had to adjourn voting in the Rajya Sabha elections in various states to prevent violation of social distancing norms even where only limited number of MLAs were to vote.

"Therefore, how can it conduct elections in various states where lakhs and lakhs of people have to vote, divided into hundreds of polling booths which are managed by thousands of employees," the former Lok Sabha member said.

The time has come for other alternatives forms of voting like online voting or postal ballot that have to be examined and a consensus has to be reached in the country, the ASG said.

Replying to a question on anti-defection by a law student, Jain said it was unfortunate that different Speakers of various Vidhan Sabhas have kept the issue of disqualification of MLAs under the anti-defection law for a long time with a view to help and save the governments of their own political parties.

He said that a time limit of 3 to 4 months should be prescribed for the Speakers to decide upon the anti-defection petitions, one way or the other.

To another query, the ASG clarified that Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray will have to become an MLA or MLC before May 27, i.e. within 6 months of becoming a chief minister. Otherwise as per the Constitution, he will cease to be the chief minister on that date.

Thackeray cannot be appointed even a minister unless he is elected to either of the two houses of the Maharashtra legislature, Jain said.