Andhra's parishad polls were not smooth everywhere. The State Election Commission should say where, and act on it

By the State Election Commission’s own account, polling in Andhra Pradesh’s mandal and zilla parishad elections on Thursday was proceeding smoothly. Commissioner Anil Chandra Punetha said so after visiting booths on the outskirts of Vijayawada, and in much of the state it was true. More than 30% of voters had cast their ballots by 1 pm, and in Prakasam and elsewhere officials toured quiet booths.

It was not true everywhere. In Erripalle, in Pulivendula, petrol bombs were allegedly hurled near a booth. In Marutla, in Anantapur, YSRCP and TDP workers clashed inside a polling station and ballot boxes were thrown to the floor. The YSRCP accused TDP cadres of capturing a booth at Dhulipalla in Palnadu, and villagers in Gonugunta, in Prakasam, announced a boycott after alleging that the party’s agents had been detained overnight. YSRCP leader Byreddy Siddharth was kept under house arrest while voting went on.

Some of these charges may prove exaggerated; parties in Andhra have a long habit of crying foul on polling day. That is exactly why the commission cannot answer them with a reassuring word. Smooth is a finding, and a finding needs evidence.

The commission has done this before

Four days ago it showed it can. After the urban local body polls on 1 November, when police counted about 40 incidents and registered 275 FIRs, the commission declared polling void at 12 stations in six towns, including Pulivendula, Jammalamadugu and Macherla, because district officials reported that “booth capturing had taken place and the poll process had been vitiated”. The repoll was held the next day.

Thursday’s complaints deserve the same test, applied booth by booth. The commission has the means. It said polling would be watched on CCTV at 16,064 locations and webcast on 6,000 laptops. The footage from Erripalle, Marutla, Dhulipalla and every other booth where a complaint was lodged should be examined before any repoll is decided, and the candidates in those seats should be allowed to see it.

What the commission should do before counting

First, decide repolls on the record, not on who shouts loudest. Where the footage or the presiding officer’s diary shows capture, intimidation or tampered boxes, order a fresh vote. If one day is not enough to examine the evidence, counting in those seats should wait; rushing to Saturday’s count matters less than getting the result right.

Second, publish a full incident report: every complaint received, the station, what the observers found and the action taken. Voters in a constituency that was not disturbed have a right to know that, and voters in one that was have a right to know why their vote stands or does not.

Third, the police must follow through. The 275 FIRs from the urban polls, and whatever cases are filed for Thursday, should be tracked publicly to charge sheets. Prosecutions, not press notes, are what make the next polling day calmer.

Finally, the house arrests need explaining. Keeping a political leader at home on election day may sometimes be justified to keep the peace. The police should say, in writing, on what legal ground and on what information each order was made.

The commission has spent a difficult month guarding these polls through court cases, a cyclone and clashes. It can end it with credibility, by showing its work.

The reporting behind this view

• 31,460polling stations in Thursday's parishad elections
• 16,064locations where polling was watched on CCTV
• 12stations where the commission ordered a repoll after the 1 November urban polls