Kochi: In a significant ruling ahead of future elections, the Kerala High Court has dismissed a plea filed by government employees seeking permission to cast postal votes after missing the scheduled voting process during Assembly elections.
The petition, backed by the NGO Union and others, claimed that nearly 20,000 election duty staff were unable to exercise their franchise through postal ballots. The petitioners argued that polling officials should be allowed to submit postal votes to returning officers until the morning of vote counting.
However, the Election Commission strongly opposed the demand, stating that the officials failed to vote due to their own procedural lapses. According to the Commission, some applicants did not submit the required forms properly, while others failed to collect their postal ballots on time.
The Commission also clarified before the court that a dedicated system for postal voting had already been arranged and that voting could only take place through the officially prescribed process. It further pointed out that only service voters are entitled to cast votes until the counting stage.
Accepting the Election Commission’s stand, the High Court ruled that complaints regarding denial of voting rights must be challenged through an election petition rather than a writ petition.
With this interim order, the court made it clear that postal voting outside the existing election procedures will not be permitted.
