Consider reasonable requests of voters on poll duty, HC tells ECI

Taking serious note of a complaint that many government officials on poll duty do not get to cast their postal votes properly due to paucity of time and other issues, the Madras High Court on Wednesday directed the Election Commission of India (ECI) to ensure that their reasonable request for exercising their franchise effectively was attended to as best as possible. The commission was also ordered to try and ensure that more than 90% of voters on poll duty get to vote through postal ballots. Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy issued the directions while disposing of a public interest litigation petition filed by Tamil Nadu High-Higher Secondary Graduate Teachers Association. Senior counsel R. Viduthalai, assisted by V. Arun, said many officials, deputed to constituencies other than the one in which they reside, do not vote because the postal papers were given to them only during the silence period (48 hours before the actual day of polling).