Govt considering open ballot system for Council polls: Gowda

“...there are Legislative Councils in six states, we are thinking about it. I have already written to all the Chief Ministers that like in Rajya Sabha elections, during the elections to Legislative Council from Legislative Assembly, the voter has to show the ballot paper to the official agent of the party and cast the vote,” he told reporters here.

“This in a way will minimise influence of money in these elections. We have made up our mind to bring in amendments to this effect,” he said. Elections to the Council from the Assembly constituency now follows the secret ballot system where secrecy of voting is maintained while the Rajya Sabha polls have an open ballot system where voter has to show the ballot paper to the official agent of the party and cast the vote.

In both the cases, votes will be considered invalid if there is violation. “I have already written to Chief Ministers of six states. States like Maharashtra have written back asking us to take steps in this regard as soon as possible. We will initiate the process in this regard,” Gowda said. Speaking on the “sting operation” that purportedly showed legislators negotiating money deal in exchange for their votes for Rajya Sabha elections in Karnataka, the Law Minister demanded that the Election Commission should consider this seriously.