Fixing the electoral roll

Electoral roll is nothing but the compilation of various data about the eligible voters of a country, and although statistics allow certain 5 percent error, it is not at all acceptable in question of preparing the electoral roll because such an error may reverse the outcome of an election in some constituencies. Thus, the Election Commission should pay every effort in making the electoral roll cent percent accurate.

The right of all adult citizens to participate in the affairs of the government is one of the cornerstones of democracy. As the foundation stone of democracy, especially where it is a parliamentary form of government, integrity and accuracy of the voter roll are of paramount importance, which in ideally means the inclusion of all legally eligible persons on the electoral roll. An underage voter may creep into the electoral roll, but it is unpardonable to disenfranchise any eligible voter just by exclusion of his or her name from the electoral roll.

Perhaps the most fundamental form of participation is the right to vote in free and fair elections. The ability to exercise the democratic right to vote is premised on the existence of a comprehensive and inclusive voter roll, which is rigorously maintained to ensure, as much as possible, that each eligible citizen is registered to vote.

Electoral roll is the fundamental component of any voting system. Enrollment procedure therefore need to strike the right balance between the need to be rigorous to ensure integrity of the rolls, and the need for flexibility to ensure that peoples' right to enroll and vote are protected.

One of the two underlying principles of effective voter registration is the system that facilitates the inclusion of all eligible voters in the electoral roll. Democratic governance requires the existence of free and fair elections conducted amongst a broadly enfranchised electorate. In order to realize this percept, then, all eligible electors should be included on the voter list and such inclusion affirms their right to vote in the election. The other principle of voter registration is the obvious corollary of the first, namely, that it should prevent the exclusion of eligible citizens from the list.

Controversies over the electoral roll were there for the last few elections in our country. The confrontational nature of politics also reflected in matters related to the electoral roll and has now become into a fashion for the political parties and candidates. Various reports reflected in different news media just after the publication of the preliminary electoral roll raised different controversies. Some of the complaints and measures taken by the Election Commission are mentioned below:

"The ruling party must not go head over heels to ridicule BNP's claim either; for it is much too serious for that. Ideally, we visualise a situation where the EC should play the pivot in engaging all the political parties and civil society members to weed out the discrepancies, if any, contained in the fresh voter-list." (Row over Electoral Roll: Editorial The Daily Star, October 30, 2000).

"Parbatya Chattagram Jana Sanghati Samity (PCJSS) warned that election in hill districts would be prevented unless the voter list was cancelled and new list was prepared before the October 1, 2001 election, arguing that the list was not prepared following the terms and conditions of the Peace Treaty and the District Council Law. The voter list prepared during May-June, 2000 included the non-resident persons staying in the Parbatya Chattagram, such as businessmen and army persons. PCJSS however claimed that the list should include only the permanent resident of the Parbatya Chattagram. (Prothom Alo, November 10, 2000).

"Women of 12 villages in Surat union of Jhenidah district had been barred by fatwa from casting their vote in any election in the last 85 years before the October 1, 2001 election. This was reported by a section of the print media on January 5, 2001, which described how about four thousand women voters of 12 villages in Surat union of Jhenidah district have been 'deprived of their fundamental right to vote in any election for about 85 years due to fatwa by a section of people.' Election Commission however directed the Deputy Election Commissioner, Khulna, and the Deputy Commissioner of Jhenidah to inquire into the complaint and submit a comprehensive report urgently." (FEMA e-newsletter January 17, 2001).

"Election Commission had constituted high-powered investigation committees to probe into allegations of falsification and fraud in the voters' roll at two places in Dhaka and one in Bhola. A four-member committee headed by a Deputy Secretary visited the constituencies where the voter rise marked by 50 per cent while country's average rise was 34 per cent." (FEMA e-newsletter, June 28, 2001).

Chief Election Commissioner M.A. Syed admitted the falsification of voters list reported by the press and complaints filed by different political parties and directed to the concerned officials to bring the culprits to book and take action as per rule.

Such controversies and complaints lodged by political parties and candidates clearly indicate lack of confidence in the accuracy of the electoral roll. Election Commission received complains from the two major contenders Awami League and Bangladesh Nationalist Party and some independent candidates. Election Commission although made a sincere effort to make the electoral roll free from complaints just before the last general election, but at last failed as the drive was not timely. Thus Election Commission should concentrate on the preparation for holding the election well ahead especially on matters which really take time. The political parties should play a complementary role with the Election Commission for holding the election in a free, fair, and impartial manner, and make the outcome of the election credible and acceptable to all.

The civil society organisations along with the NGOs should come forward with more boldness to establish an independent Election Commission free of political interference. Initiative of the civil society and NGOs helps bridge the gap between the political parties and the Commission, which can be strengthened through collaboration between the two agencies.

Emerging in the early 80s, the NGOs in Bangladesh have been enthusiastically contributing to the national development process very successfully and in some issues more than the government institutions. The NGOs have been partitioned according to the political fronts (pro-AL NGOs and pro-BNP NGOs) on the eve of the October 1, 2001 general elections. In spite of that, NGOs have still been trying to deliver services in accordance to their goals, objectives, and jurisdiction. The political government should not consider the NGOs as a rival, but include them as a supplementary force in meeting the people's development aspirations.

The NGOs can successfully help government institutions in solving most of the national crisis. In this regard, Fair Election Monitoring Alliance (FEMA) like some other civil society initiatives, has already set up some examples. FEMA has been vigorously advocating for electoral reform since its inception and contributing in the process of holding a free and fair election in the country. FEMA's contribution in increasing the public confidence over the electoral process is unprecedented. After consultation with a wide range of professionals, activists and political leaders FEMA brought some recommendations for changes in the existing electoral roll, some of which were included in the ordinance on the eve of the general election 2001.

Just after the official publication of the electoral roll before the election, FEMA had launched an awareness campaign Let's Get the Voter List Right with a view to promote a process for rectification of the electoral roll. The campaign also helped wipe out fictitious voters from the list, ensure enlistment of those who were thus left out, and enhance the public confidence over the electoral roll. Although the countrywide campaign led by FEMA was very effective, it ultimately could not reach its overall goal due to time constraints. Success demands long-term campaigns and large-scale meaningful involvement of the non-government and civil society organisations.

The whole nation has witnessed the formal politicisation of the NGOs of the country. In spite of these malpractices of the political parties, the Election Commission should seriously consider involvement of Election Monitoring Organisations (EMOs) like FEMA in updating and correcting the electoral roll by engaging its countrywide network of volunteers. Definitely involvement of a non-partisan election-monitoring organisation in the process of preparing and updating the electoral roll would help increasing its level of acceptance to the political parties and the general voters. Besides public consultation is one exercise that can be undertaken by the Commission about the ways and means of preparing an accurate and acceptable voter list, where the Election Monitoring Organisations can contribute a lot.

During the registration period a good number of people get an excellent opportunity to involve in the electoral process as volunteers with specific responsibilities. These responsibilities may include initiating voter education campaign, encouraging the people to register as voter, monitoring the conduct of the government officials, and implementing a system to process complaints regarding preparation of the voter list. These activities, including identification of probable problems in the process of registration, can substantially enhance the quality of the electoral roll.

Moreover, the importance of the pre-election environment monitoring including the process of nomination and its successful contribution towards holding a free and fair election suggests for monitoring of the process of preparing the electoral roll. Monitoring of the electoral process for ensuring a free, fair, and credible election is cannot be limited to monitoring of the election day only, and subsequently domestic election monitoring adopted some new dimensions. The controversies surrounding the preliminary electoral roll and its finalisations demand preparing and finalising the electoral roll under the long-term observation of EMOs like FEMA.

The manner in which the voter registration takes place, as well as the complementary responsibilities of the election administration officials and citizens vary considerably from one country to another. Registering into the voter roll in some instances is the responsibility of the citizens. Compilation of voter list for the purpose of elections to the parliament is based on the constitution, which vest responsibility for preparation of the electoral roll with the Election Commission. Under constitutional provision, there is to be one electoral roll for each constituency for the purpose of elections to parliament.

Another important issue to be addressed is ensuring the right to franchise of the expatriate Bangladeshis. Non-resident Bangladeshis, numbering 2.5 million, engaged in different jobs abroad are still considered ineligible to exercise their franchise in elections. The Election Commission however stopped the process of including the expatriates, mentioning that it was not realistic. Once the expatriates are included in the voter list, it will be a must for the Commission to take necessary arrangement for casting their votes, which is not possible in the conventional system. Relevant laws need to be amended for ensuring the expatriates' right to franchise.

The Election Commission however can seriously consider the following issues with a view to rectifying the electoral roll:

· Engaging EMOs to monitor/check the electoral roll throughout the country, particularly in areas where there were serious allegations.

·Verifying the accuracy of the information on the voters' lists by conducting sample survey following a statistically accepted method.

· Identifying extreme changes in the number of registrants in a region, the current electoral roll can be compared with that of the previous elections.

·Determining duplicate registrations and the registration of ineligible voters, various computer applications can be used for the existing election database.

The Election Commission should consider formation of a vigilance team comprising volunteers from various EMOs and representatives of various political parties. These teams will be engaged in scrutinising the electoral roll of the respective areas under direct supervision of the election officials. If considered, the Commission should go for immediate implementation of such a programme for timely and effective completion of their activities resulting an accurate electoral roll acceptable to all.

Generally, the EC ought to have its own permanent personnel who would specialise in election-related jobs and remain to serve the EC while top executives (secretary, additional secretary, etc) may be brought in from the civil bureaucracy. The EC should also hire consultants from amongst former/retired officers of the EC who have previous experience of handling election related issues and problems. Experience has no substitute.

Sadrul Hasan Mazumder worked at FEMA/MSS.