SEC pushes live webcasting from all polling booths during GBA polls, FD turns down proposal

SEC urges live webcasting from all polling booths for Bengaluru elections, but Finance Department limits it to select locations.

The State Election Commission has written to the Karnataka government to live webcast from all polling stations for the upcoming Bengaluru civic election, but the Finance Department has turned down the proposal and instead agreed to webcast from only a limited number of polling booths, said G.S. Sangreshi, Karnataka State Election Commissioner.

Mr. Sangreshi, who was in conversation with The Hindu on Tuesday (March 17), said that he would again write to the government asking it to reconsider the decision and arrange for live webcasting from all polling stations. “Since we are shifting to ballot papers for this election, we need to ensure transparency and protect the integrity of the elections. In this light, webcasting from all polling stations is necessary,” he said. 

The State government has recently mandated that local body polls in the State be held using ballot papers instead of Electronic Voting Machines (EVM). This came on the back of Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi’s Vote Chori campaign. 

Mr. Sangreshi pointed to the 2025 Bihar assembly elections, where Election Commission of India ensured live webcasting from all polling booths. “Webcasting would ensure transparency, avoiding issues that may arise later,” he said.

“If allegations reach the court and one person from the booth claims that there has been some tampering within the booth and another person dismisses such an incident, there won’t be any evidence to corroborate. On the other hand, if we webcast the activities, then there will be some proof,” Mr. Sangreshi said.

He also stressed that the purpose of reverting to ballot papers was to prevent allegations of voter fraud. But if such allegations arise after using ballot papers as well, the whole purpose of changing the mode of conducting elections would be defeated, he said.