Maharashtra village passes ballot paper voting resolution

A gram panchayat in Maharashtra's Sangli district has passed a resolution supporting the use of ballot papers instead of EVMs in future elections to "protect the Constitution," a gram sabha member has said.

Bahe village in Walva tehsil of Sangli district is perhaps the second village in western Maharashtra to pass a resolution discarding EVMs for ballot papers. In December, the gram sabha of Kolewadi village in Karad (south) constituency in Satara district resolved to cast votes in future polls on ballot papers.

"The gram sabha in Bahe village passed a resolution recently supporting the use of ballot papers in all future elections instead of electronic voting machines (EVMs). We also appeal to other villages and their respective gram panchayats to pass similar resolutions to safeguard and protect the Constitution and democracy," a Bahe gram sabha member said.

The villagers submitted the resolution to the tehsildar, he said. These resolutions were passed amid the doubts cast by Opposition leaders on the credibility of EVMs following the victory of the BJP-led Mahayuti alliance in the Maharashtra assembly elections in November.

In December 2024, a section of villagers from Markadwadi in the Malshiras assembly segment of Solapur district attempted to conduct a mock poll on ballot papers, raising doubt over EVMs and after the district administration turned down their request for a re-poll, following the reduced victory margin of the NCP (SP) candidate.

However, the plan to hold a 're-election' using ballot papers had to be called off following intervention from the local police and administration. Malshiras SDM (sub-divisional magistrate) Vijaya Pangarkar issued prohibitory orders under the Bharatiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita from 2 to 5 December, and the election authorities rejected the villagers’ demand, saying the election had been conducted lawfully. “A ballot-paper election now would be illegal and outside the election process framework,” Pangarkar had then said.