Promoting Green Elections in India
India’s Election Commission (ECI):
- Overseeing the Union and State election procedures in India is the Election Commission of India, an independent constitutional body.
The organisation conducts elections for:
- Lok Sabha
- The Rajya Sabha
- Indian State Legislative Assemblies
- positions held by the nation’s president and vice president.
- The constitution’s Part XV addresses elections and creates a commission to handle them.
- Articles 324 through 329 address the members’ qualifications, roles, tenure, and other aspects of the commission.
- One Chief Election Commissioner and two Election Commissioners make up the commission.
- Election Commissioners and the Chief Election Commissioner are appointed by the President.
- Tenure: Their term is set at six years, or until they turn sixty-five, whichever comes first.
- Status: They have the same rights as judges of the Indian Supreme Court, including the same pay and benefits.
- Only Parliament can remove the Chief Election Commissioner from office through a procedure akin to that of a Supreme Court judge.
- Each of the three members can vote equally, and the majority rules in the commission.
Section 324:
- An Election Commission will have supervision, guidance, and control over elections.
EC’s functions include:
Why is a paradigm change necessary?
- During the 2016 US presidential election, the emissions from one candidate’s campaign aircraft alone were equal to 500 Americans’ annual carbon footprint.
- Conventional election procedures, which depend on energy-intensive rallies, PVC flex banners, loudspeakers, paper-based materials, etc.
- They have a major negative influence on the environment and public health.
- The impact of the large-scale political rallies and millions of voters in India during the elections is amplified.
A study by Estonian researchers Willemson and Krips (2023):
- Voter transportation and polling place logistics account for the majority of carbon emissions during an election.
- The polling booth operations provide the supplementary source.
- Making the switch to computerised voting equipment could result in a 40% reduction in carbon emissions.
Issues with environmentally friendly practices:
- Adopting ecologically sustainable elections will provide technical, financial, and behavioural obstacles.
- Robust infrastructure is necessary for electronic and digital voting, particularly in rural regions, and checks against fraud and hacking are necessary.
- Ensuring equitable access to new technology and formal training for all voters.
- One of the financial obstacles is the high initial outlay for environmentally friendly materials and technologies.
- Financially strapped governments would be discouraged by it.
- A behavioural challenge is the cultural inertia that values a voter’s physical attendance at polling places as sacred.
- Public mistrust of novel ideas and anxiety over safeguards for voting integrity.
Examples from Sri Lanka, Kerala, Goa, and Estonia:
Kerala:
- Kerala State Election Commission advised political parties not to use single-use plastics while they were campaigning in the 2019 general election.
- A ban on flex and non-biodegradable materials in electioneering was ordered by the Kerala High Court.
- Paper posters and wall graffiti became available substitutes.
- To guarantee a green election, government agencies worked with the Thiruvananthapuram district administration.
- Election workers attended training sessions held in villages.
Goa:
- The Goa State Biodiversity Board used biodegradable materials made by regional traditional craftspeople to create environmentally friendly poll booths for the Assembly elections in 2022.
Sri Lanka:
- In 2019, the world’s first environmentally conscious election campaign that took carbon emissions into account was started by the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP).
- It tracked the amount of electricity used and carbon emissions from moving cars during election campaigns.
- Offset the emissions by enlisting the public to help plant trees in each district.
- This reduced the campaign’s direct carbon footprint and raised awareness of the value of forest cover.
Estonia:
- It established the framework for digital voting as an alternative to online voting.
- It promoted voting.
- Strong security measures combined with digital voting is environmentally and voter-friendly.
Way Ahead:
- Eco-friendly elections are necessary because they would encourage civic engagement and environmental care.
- Elections that are ecologically mindful have been held in Estonia and Sri Lanka.
- All parties involved in this green shift, including political parties, election commissions, governments, voters, the media, and civil society, must be involved.
- It is critical that grassroots efforts and high-level instructions are successfully integrated to promote a green transition.
- Leading political parties are required.
- Legislation requiring environmentally friendly election procedures can be the first step in the process, and the ECI can include them in the Model Code of Conduct.
- using door-to-door canvassing or internet platforms to campaign (instead of energy-intensive public gatherings) and promoting the use of public transit for election-related tasks.
- Encouraging the substitution of sustainable local materials for polling booths, such as biodegradable plastics, recycled paper, and natural textiles, instead of plastic and paper-based ones will promote local craftspeople and help control trash.
- Even if digital voting calls for the training and capacity building of officials, the ECI can nevertheless advocate for it.
- To guarantee that every voter participates equally in the digital voting process
- Voters need to be informed, encouraged, and given fair access to digital technology by the government.
- The media plays a critical role in drawing attention to the negative environmental effects of traditional voting procedures while also highlighting creative, environmentally friendly alternatives.
- Adopting environmentally friendly election procedures can assist India in serving as a model for other democracies globally.
