Simultaneous polls: CEC lists number of prerequisites

Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) OP Rawat today said simultaneous polls to the Lok Sabha, legislative assemblies and other bodies could be held, provided necessary amendments were made to the Constitution and a sufficient number of electronic voting machines (EVMs) were made available.

He also stressed the need for other logistics to be in place before such a system could be introduced in the country.

"The government had sought the Election Commission's (EC) opinion in 2015 on holding the elections to the Lok Sabha, legislative assemblies and other bodies together.

"We had sent a detailed reply to the government, telling them that this new system would require amendments in the relevant paragraphs of the Constitution and certain sections of the Representation of the People Act, 1950, and the Representation of the People Act, 1951," Rawat said, while addressing the Foundation Day function of the Indore Press Club.

He added that once the requisite amendments were made and the legal framework was ready for holding simultaneous polls, the EC would need an adequate number of EVMs and other logistics.

"If all these requirements are met, then the EC does not have any problem in holding elections simultaneously," the CEC said.

He added that EVMs were required for 10 lakh polling booths across the country.

"If the elections to the Lok Sabha, Vidhan Sabhas and other institutions are to be held together, the requirement of EVMs will obviously go up.

"As far as the merits and demerits of implementing the new system are concerned, the political parties, lawmakers and citizens will have to brainstorm," the CEC said.

He pointed out that in several countries, different elections were held together and once the results were out, the political parties forgot the bitterness and moved forward towards the development of their countries.

Dismissing the doubts over EVMs, Rawat said transparency and credibility of the election process had increased with the introduction of the VVPAT (Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail) machines with EVMs.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had urged the NDA constituents to start a debate on the need for "One Nation, One Election".