{"id":74238,"date":"2020-12-24T18:23:04","date_gmt":"2020-12-24T12:53:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.forumias.com\/?p=74238"},"modified":"2020-12-24T18:43:38","modified_gmt":"2020-12-24T13:13:38","slug":"importance-and-steps-forfree-fair-and-safe-elections-amid-pandemic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/importance-and-steps-forfree-fair-and-safe-elections-amid-pandemic\/","title":{"rendered":"Importance and steps for\u2018Free, fair and safe\u2019 elections amid pandemic"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><b><span data-contrast=\"none\">Synopsis<\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"none\">:\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><span data-contrast=\"none\">EC should ensure<\/span><span data-contrast=\"none\">\u00a0<\/span><span data-contrast=\"none\">\u2018Free, fair and safe\u2019\u00a0<\/span><span data-contrast=\"none\">upcoming<\/span><span data-contrast=\"none\">\u00a0<\/span><span data-contrast=\"none\">elections in the states of Kerala,\u00a0<\/span><span data-contrast=\"none\">Tamilnadu<\/span><span data-contrast=\"none\">, West Bengal, Assam and Pondicherry (UT)<\/span><span data-contrast=\"none\">.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:257}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"none\">\u00a0<\/span><b><span data-contrast=\"none\">Background<\/span><\/b><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:257}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li data-leveltext=\"\u00b7\" data-font=\"Symbol\" data-listid=\"10\" aria-setsize=\"-1\" data-aria-posinset=\"16\" data-aria-level=\"1\"><span data-contrast=\"none\">Since the pandemic broken, Millions of people have exercised their political right to vote in more than 34 countries, including India (In Bihar).\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;134233279&quot;:true,&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:259}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li data-leveltext=\"\u00b7\" data-font=\"Symbol\" data-listid=\"10\" aria-setsize=\"-1\" data-aria-posinset=\"17\" data-aria-level=\"1\"><span data-contrast=\"none\">With the reappearance of a variant of\u00a0covid\u00a0virus in countries like Britain, human beings exposing themselves to the risk of getting and spreading infection through this exercise of franchise is immense.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;134233279&quot;:true,&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:259}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li data-leveltext=\"\u00b7\" data-font=\"Symbol\" data-listid=\"10\" aria-setsize=\"-1\" data-aria-posinset=\"18\" data-aria-level=\"1\"><span data-contrast=\"none\">So, it becomes crucial that when elections are announced ECI should pay equal attention to both the\u00a0<\/span><b><span data-contrast=\"none\">election (democratic process)<\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"none\">\u00a0as well as the constitutional rights\u00a0<\/span><b><span data-contrast=\"none\">\u201cright to life<\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"none\">\u201d as enshrined in\u00a0<\/span><b><span data-contrast=\"none\">Article 21<\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"none\">\u00a0and \u201cright to lead a healthy life\u201d as held by SC in\u00a0<\/span><b><span data-contrast=\"none\">Sunil Batra vs. Delhi Administration<\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"none\">.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;134233279&quot;:true,&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:259}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li data-leveltext=\"\u00b7\" data-font=\"Symbol\" data-listid=\"10\" aria-setsize=\"-1\" data-aria-posinset=\"19\" data-aria-level=\"1\"><span data-contrast=\"none\">But as a life with liberty will be pure theory if a person\u2019s life itself is placed in danger. Thus, there is a need for taking additional measures while announcing elections.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;134233279&quot;:true,&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:259}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b><span data-contrast=\"none\">What are the precautions that needs to be taken while conducting elections in these states?<\/span><\/b><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:259}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"none\">As the upcoming elections in Kerala (140 seats), Tamil Nadu (234), Puducherry (30), West Bengal (294) and Assam (126) are scheduled in the coming months. Following steps should be taken to ensure the people\u2019s right to health life;<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:257}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li data-leveltext=\"\u00b7\" data-font=\"Symbol\" data-listid=\"11\" aria-setsize=\"-1\" data-aria-posinset=\"20\" data-aria-level=\"1\"><b><span data-contrast=\"none\">First<\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"none\">, the senior citizens who are more vulnerable to infections should be enabled to vote in the first three hours of the voting using a separate queue-lane.<\/span><b><span data-contrast=\"none\">\u00a0<\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"none\">\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;134233279&quot;:true,&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:259}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li data-leveltext=\"\u00b7\" data-font=\"Symbol\" data-listid=\"11\" aria-setsize=\"-1\" data-aria-posinset=\"21\" data-aria-level=\"1\"><b><span data-contrast=\"none\">Second,\u00a0<\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"none\">Personnel<\/span><span data-contrast=\"none\">\u00a0scheduled to be drafted for election duty including security staffs needs to be identified as a priority category for getting vaccinated.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;134233279&quot;:true,&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:259}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li data-leveltext=\"\u00b7\" data-font=\"Symbol\" data-listid=\"11\" aria-setsize=\"-1\" data-aria-posinset=\"22\" data-aria-level=\"1\"><b><span data-contrast=\"none\">Third,\u00a0<\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"none\">every voter entering a booth must be asked to wear mask like the mandatory requirement of Voter Identity card.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;134233279&quot;:true,&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:259}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li data-leveltext=\"\u00b7\" data-font=\"Symbol\" data-listid=\"11\" aria-setsize=\"-1\" data-aria-posinset=\"23\" data-aria-level=\"1\"><b><span data-contrast=\"none\">Fourth,\u00a0<\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"none\">ECI needs to repeat the precautions that were taken during Bihar elections such as reducing the numbers of voters per booth, increasing the number of booths, thermal testing each voter and making postal votes available to senior voters above the age of 80.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;134233279&quot;:true,&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:259}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"none\">Commitment to political freedom and a compliance with pandemic mitigation measures are an unavoidable contradiction It is the constitutional duty of the state to protect and reduce the risks of pandemic hazard to as near zero as possible while allowing citizens towards their constitutional entitlement of universal adult franchise. Elections during the pandemic must be made safe from the virus to protect the Democracy.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:259}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Synopsis:\u00a0\u00a0EC should ensure\u00a0\u2018Free, fair and safe\u2019\u00a0upcoming\u00a0elections in the states of Kerala,\u00a0Tamilnadu, West Bengal, Assam and Pondicherry (UT).\u00a0 \u00a0Background\u00a0 Since the pandemic broken, Millions of people have exercised their political right to vote in more than 34 countries, including India (In Bihar).\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 With the reappearance of a variant of\u00a0covid\u00a0virus in countries like Britain, human beings exposing&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/importance-and-steps-forfree-fair-and-safe-elections-amid-pandemic\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Importance and steps for\u2018Free, fair and safe\u2019 elections amid pandemic<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":61,"featured_media":74259,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1230,1351,1310,9],"tags":[1331],"class_list":["post-74238","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-9-pm-daily-articles","category-daily-news","category-daily-news-updates","category-public","tag-po_7","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Importance-and-steps-for-Free-fair-and-safe-elections-amid-pandemic.jpg?fit=1280%2C720&ssl=1","views":{"total":0,"cached_at":"","cached_date":1702366944},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74238","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/61"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=74238"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74238\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/74259"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=74238"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=74238"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=74238"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}