Simultaneous polls: Reverting to ballot paper ‘out of scope’

New Delhi, March 1: The question of reverting to ballot papers does not fall under the ambit of the mandate of a joint committee of Parliament examining the two bills on simultaneous polls, the Union law ministry is learnt to have said.
Going back to the ballot paper system was a “suggestion” made by some of the members of the joint committee, and the law ministry was to respond to it in writing.
While the ministry’s Legislative Department gave elaborate responses to a variety of questions posed to it by the committee, it did not give a direct reply on the suggestion on the ballot paper system.
The ministry is learnt to have said it was “out of scope” of the parliamentary panel to make a suggestion on the use of the ballot paper system, according to sources.
Whether to use Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) or ballot papers for casting votes is not the subject the panel is examining, they underlined.
The committee is mandated to examine the bills on simultaneous polls — the Constitution (129th Amendment) Bill and the Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill — and give its report on whether they are sound enough for the purpose or need changes, the sources said. While the Constitution (129th Amendment) Bill lays down a legal framework to hold the Lok Sabha and assembly polls together, the Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill seeks to align the terms of legislative assemblies of Delhi, Puducherry and Jammu and Kashmir for the purpose of holding joint elections. (PTI)