Village in Maharashtra passes resolution to use ballot papers in future elections
A village assembly in Maharashtra’s Satara district, Kolewadi gram sabha, has decided to use ballot papers for future elections, marking it as the second village in the state to officially oppose Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs).
The village falls within the Karad (South) assembly constituency, previously held by veteran Congress politician and ex-chief minister Prithviraj Chavan. In the November elections, he was defeated by BJP’s Atul Bhosale with a margin of 39,355 votes.
The village assembly passed this resolution after residents raised concerns about votes recorded through EVMs. This action follows a recent incident in Markadwadi village of Solapur’s Malshiras constituency, where villagers attempted to conduct a mock voting exercise using paper ballots, questioning EVM reliability. Local authorities and police intervened, leading to legal action.
“The resolution was adopted during the December 2 gram sabha meeting, acknowledging villagers’ wishes to conduct upcoming elections using ballot papers instead of EVMs,” stated Shankarrao Patil, spouse of village head Ratnamala Patil, in a Tuesday statement.
Patil mentioned that villagers were taken aback by Prithviraj Chavan’s unexpectedly low vote margin in Kolewadi during the assembly polls. A local government worker confirmed the resolution’s passage.
“The Kolewadi gram sabha has officially decided that future elections should use ballot papers rather than EVMs,” confirmed a resident. He emphasized that the Election Commission should consider reverting to paper ballots given the “widespread demand.”
“Our resolution states that Kolewadi residents will participate only in ballot paper-based voting. We’ll abstain from voting if EVMs are used,” he declared. “If authorities refuse ballot paper voting, we’ll boycott the entire election process,” he further stated.
Jitendra Dudi, Satara’s district collector, mentioned that his office hadn’t received the resolution copy from the village council. “Without receiving the official copy, I cannot provide appropriate comments. We’ll take necessary action once we receive it,” he explained.
