Nagpur graduates' poll: petition in High Court seeks cancellation on counting day

Counting of votes for the Nagpur division graduates' constituency is under way today. The same day, the Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court is due to hear a petition seeking cancellation of the election. The petition has been filed by Sachin Kalbande, a candidate in the election.

The petition says that under election rules, the Election Commission was required to publish the final voter list on October 6, the last day for filing nominations. It alleges that the list was not published on October 6 but on October 11.

It further alleges that in the final stage, the names of 98,000 voters were added to the list in one lot, like a bundle. These names were allegedly entered in haste, without verifying the voters' eligibility. The petitioner says this destroyed the transparency of the voter list and the entire voting process.

The petitioner also alleges that because names were added in a rush at the last moment, thousands of duplicate voters remained on the list and bogus voting took place. The Nagpur bench is expected to hear the petition this afternoon. With the election now at its final stage, it remains to be seen how much weight the court gives to the petition.

On the counting process, it has been stated that all votes will first be taken out of each ballot box. The officer from the polling station concerned will tally the actual number of ballot papers against the number recorded in Form No. 16 (1) for that box. At the same time, the votes from each box will be made into bundles of 25, and the folds of the ballot papers will not be opened while bundling.

All the bundles will then be mixed in one large tub. In all, 1,65,541 votes will be mixed in the tub. Each counting table will then be given 1,000 votes, in bundles of 25, for counting. There are 84 tables for the Nagpur count, so 84,000 votes will be taken up for counting in the first round.

In the first round, the 1,000 votes at each table will be opened. A vote carrying a first preference for a candidate will be put in the pigeonhole box bearing that candidate's name. These are small cardboard boxes marked with the candidates' names. Invalid votes will be set aside at the same time.

In the second round, another 1,000 votes will be given to each of the 84 tables for counting. The process will be the same as in the first round, with votes placed in the candidates' pigeonhole boxes according to first preference. At the end of the second round, once all invalid votes have been separated, the winning quota will be fixed.

If a candidate reaches the winning quota across the first two rounds, that candidate will be declared elected with the Election Commission's permission. If no candidate reaches the quota on first-preference votes, an elimination round will begin. The candidate trailing in first-preference votes will be eliminated, and each of that candidate's votes will be transferred to the candidate marked as the second preference. Candidates will be eliminated one by one in this way, and counting will continue until a candidate reaches the winning quota.