HC directs seating and drinking water arrangements at polling booths

KOCHI: The Kerala High Court has directed measures to ease the difficulties faced by voters who are forced to wait in long queues for hours at polling booths. The court said that seating arrangements should be made for people standing in queues, and drinking water should be provided for those waiting to vote. Since most polling booths are set up in schools or offices, the chairs and benches available there can be used. Those who prefer to stand may do so. Justice P.V. Kunhikrishnan ordered that these arrangements be implemented from the upcoming local body elections.

The court also instructed the Election Commission to consider developing a mobile or web application that would allow voters to check queue length and waiting time at polling booths before leaving their homes.

The court included suggestions from its IT department in the order- the app should display the number of people waiting and the average time the queue takes to move. The Election Commission was asked to discuss this with the relevant authorities and implement it in the current election.

However, the High Court did not intervene in the demand to increase the number of polling booths, saying that such a move could disrupt election preparations. It added that the issue could be reviewed in future elections.

The order was issued on petitions filed by NM Thaha (79) of Vaikom and VV Balachandran, a Congress leader from Porkulam Panchayat in Thrissur. They had highlighted the difficulties faced by elderly voters due to the restriction of only one booth per polling station and requested additional booths. The court said the Election Commission must ensure smooth voting.

“How can voting be completed in just 40 seconds?”

• The court observed that more polling booths might be necessary, even though immediate changes could affect the local body elections. The Election Commission argued that not all registered voters usually turn up to vote. The court rejected this, saying such an assumption is unacceptable in a democracy. Arrangements must be made on the assumption that every voter will come to vote, the court said.
• According to current guidelines, there is one booth for every 1,200 voters in village panchayats and one booth for every 1,500 voters in municipalities. Voting time is from 7 am to 6 pm, giving 11 hours in total. This means each voter gets only 30–40 seconds to sign the register and cast votes- and since there are three levels of local body voting, this is impractical and insufficient.
• The court noted that in a democracy, the voter is the superstar and must be treated with respect. Polling stations should ensure their comfort. Seeing long queues that discourage people from voting is like the death knell of democracy, the judge said. The order also quoted Mahatma Gandhi’s view that “there can be winners only if there are losers, and that is the beauty of democracy.”