The Hindu

MANGALORE, May 26: Of the postal votes cast in the eight Assembly constituencies in Dakshina Kannada, almost 11 per cent were rejected during counting on Sunday.

Postal ballots are cast mainly by government employees who are sent on election duty after being trained in various election-related procedures.

Does the rejection of a large number of postal votes mean that government employees on election duty did not know how to vote? Some senior officials in the Dakshina Kannada administration say the mistake was that of the trainers. Some trainers who taught them were not aware of the proper procedure involved in postal voting. They misguided the employees on the methods of voting, they said. Employees willing to cast postal votes are given a declaration form, a ballot paper and a small envelope and a bigger one. Technically, the declaration form is called Form 13-A, the small envelope is Form 13-B and the bigger one is 13-C.

The voter has to write his or her name and address and sign the declaration form after getting it attested by a gazetted officer. If any one of the columns in this form is left blank, the vote is rejected.

The ballot paper has to be put in the small envelope and sealed.

This and the declaration forms have to be separately put in the bigger envelope and sealed. The rules state that the declaration form should not be inserted in the smaller envelope. However, many have failed to adhere to this.