The Logistics of India's Lok Sabha (Lower House of Parliament) elections

The Logistics of India's Lok Sabha 

(Lower House of Parliament) 

elections

Prof Archie D'Souza

It is election season in India for the next seventy days. The South Asian nation, with the second largest population and largest electorate, is going to hold general elections in April and May, by far, the largest democratic exercise in the world. About 900 million voters — more than the population of all the countries of Europe combined — will cast their votes to elect the 16^th Lok Sabha, the lower house of India's central government. 543 MPs will be elected, across 29 states and 7 union territories, an exercise which will be undertaken in seven phases starting from April 11 to May 19, with counting to begin on May 23. Mind-boggling to organise the logistics considering the fact that there will be almost a million, up over 10% from 2014; 2.33 million ballot units; 1.63 million control units and 1.74 million voter verifiable paper audit trails (VVPATs). For the first time electronic voting machines (EVMs) will be GPS tracked.

The Election Commission (EC) of India will deploy around 11 million polling staff, which includes security forces. To transport personnel and materials over 120 railway trains, 3000 coaches and 200,000 busses and cars will be used plus a large variety of other conveyances including boats, elephants, camels and bullock-carts and of course, planes and helicopters. This is spread across thousands of towns and villages, not easily accessible.

These elections represent, as we've stated, the world's largest democratic exercise. In 2014, the EC deployed 3.7 million polling staff; 5,50,000 security personnel, 56 helicopters and 570 special trains to conduct a five-week-long exercise in which voters trecked to almost a million polling stations. The central government spent INR 3870 crores (USD 580 million) to enable 834 million voters to elect their representatives from 8,251 candidates.

By area India is the world's seventh largest nation and the second most populous. Conducting these elections is both gargantuan and complex. Mainland India stretches from the Himalayan mountains in the North to the Indian Ocean in the South, the Arabian Sea in the west and the North-Eastern Region in the extreme east, all covering an area of over 3.3 million square kilometres. In addition we have the Andaman & Nicobar Islands off the East Coast and Lakshyadeep Islands off the West Coast. 11 million officials at 1.04 million polling stations will be deployed by the EC and over 2 million EVMs will be used. To reach the isolated far-flung hamlets in the snowbound Himalayas, polling staff will need to treck all the way, carrying with them oxygen cylinders, sleeping bags, food and torches besides the EVMs and indelible ink. This happened five years ago as, during the general election, air force helicopters carrying polling officials were unable to land there. Undeterred, a polling team trekked for 45 kilometres through knee-deep snow in the high mountains to reach 35 voters Other unique challenges need to be faced. In Chhattisgarh, to at polling station, a medical team has been deployed to protect personnel and voters from being attacked by a swrm of bees. A polling station has been set up in the Gir lion reserve for a lone voter.

The Election Commission, an independent body headed by a the Chief Election Commissioner, monitors the process and ensures that elections are free and fair. Once the voting is over in a particular phase, the EVMs need to be safely stored, till counting begins. The results will be known within a day after counting starts.

The average number of voters in each constituency is 2.22 million. The largest, in terms of number of voters, is Outer Delhi with over 3.1 million voters and the smallest Lakshadweep with a little over 37,000. Each polling station caters to 1500 voters. Every voter needs to identify themself, and after proving their credentials, has their left forefinger marked with indelible ink, which dries within a minute but remains visible for over a month. This mark prevents multiple voting by an individual voter.

All this isn't easy. But, election officials are preparing themselves for every new challenge. Polling stations have to be so located that no voter would ever need to trek or travel a distance that exceeds 2 kilometres to vote. We have seen the example of the polling station in Gir with just one vote. To ensure that this lone voter can exercise his franchise, the polling station needs to be located deep in the forest. They reach out to every single voter and it entails deploying a full team of officials.

Among the modes of transport are bullock-carts, camels, donkeys and even elephants. This symbolises the essence of India's elections. There are remote areas in India where motorized transport vehicles have still to reach.

The month of Ramazan starts around the fourth of May, this year. There are several other Christian, Hindu, Buddhist and other festivals. All these, plus the summer heat and monsoon rains have to be factored in, when deciding on the dates, not to forget college examination dates. India's elections are indeed, not just the best case-study in logistics, but in event-management as well. Personnel and materials, including meals, refreshments and drinking water, for the election staff and party observers needs to reach every remote polling station.

Once the voting is over, the counting starts. Thanks to EVMs, despite the daunting numbers, the results will be announced within two after counting commences. Despite the numbers involved, electronic voting will enable counting to be concluded in just a day or two.

Scale is indeed an almost insurmountable problem, but it is just one of the many challenges that the EC and security forces face. Insurgency is a major problem in several areas, e.g. Jammu & Kashmir, the North-Eastern states and regions affected by the Maoists. It isn't uncommon for musclemen, representing certain of the parties or individual candidates, try to influence the voters. There hasn't been a single election in India's history where there hasn't been at least one instance of violence.

India's elections are indeed a great lesson for logicians.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/13/world/asia/india-election-results.html?fbclid=IwAR0EGj-Z1nyU_O694axN3Xx84ycRJ6hvZR2U9MXCQiNKsd2MkSqFGnsmHQI

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/25/opinion/india-elections.html?fbclid=IwAR1SQyytw_1EcFkREaZudWbinqKrUdqpjqG1Et9HZKUmht6PhZtYOSQv4EI

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/elections/lok-sabha/india/tashigang-36-voters-at-worlds-highest-polling-booth/articleshow/69498201.cms?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=Social&utm_campaign=ETFBMain&fbclid=IwAR2rXnlVU9CSn_k2-r-RiXlxkhrvBYWiP_fj0-IiUVWi9rssrImToS59MXE