Section 61: Special Procedure for Preventing Personation of Electors - Representation of the People Act, 1951

Section 61 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 authorises rules to prevent personation of electors, including marking a voter's finger with indelible ink, checking prescribed identity documents and withholding a ballot paper in specified circumstances. These safeguards are designed to stop a person from voting in another elector's name or voting more than once.

Section 61: Special procedure for preventing personation of electors

The provision permits rules made under the Act to prescribe the following safeguards:

(a) Marking with indelible ink the thumb or another finger of every elector applying for a ballot paper or papers at a polling station, before delivery of the paper or papers.

(b) Production of an identity card before the presiding officer or polling officer before delivery of ballot papers, where electors have been supplied identity cards, with or without photographs, under rules made pursuant to the Representation of the People Act, 1950.

(c) Prohibition on delivering a ballot paper to a person who already has the prescribed ink mark, or who fails to produce the required identity card on demand.

The above is an explanatory restatement of clauses (a), (b) and (c). The statutory conditions and the applicable election rules govern how these safeguards operate.

Meaning of personation and why Section 61 matters

Personation in elections generally means falsely presenting oneself as another elector, including attempting to vote in that elector's name. Section 61 is a preventive procedural provision: it empowers the making of polling rules to verify electors and prevent duplicate or fraudulent voting. It should be distinguished from the separate electoral offence of personation under Section 171D of the Indian Penal Code, 1860, where applicable to the date of the alleged conduct, and the corresponding provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 for conduct governed by that law.

Indelible ink and duplicate voting

Under clause (a), the rules may require polling officials to mark an elector's finger with indelible ink before the elector is permitted to vote. The mark helps officials identify a person who may already have voted. Clause (c) allows rules prohibiting issue of a ballot paper where the relevant ink mark is already present. The exact marking and checking procedures are specified in the Conduct of Elections Rules, 1961 and Election Commission instructions, including provisions adapted to electronic voting machines.

Elector identity verification

Clause (b) concerns identity cards supplied under the Representation of the People Act, 1950. Identity verification at a polling station is conducted according to applicable rules and current directions of the Election Commission of India. Electors should consult the Commission's notification for the acceptable identification documents at a particular election; the statutory provision should not be read as stating that no document other than an Elector Photo Identity Card (EPIC) can ever be accepted.

How the safeguards operate in an EVM election

Although Section 61 refers to ballot papers, Section 61A permits voting machines and provides for references to ballot boxes and ballot papers to be construed appropriately where machines are used. The Conduct of Elections Rules, 1961, including Rule 49L on marking an elector's finger with indelible ink and Rule 49J on challenging the identity of an elector, contain procedures relevant to EVM polling. The presiding and polling officers must apply the current prescribed procedures, including safeguards against improper refusal of a genuine elector's vote.

Official legal resources

The precise voter identification and polling-station procedures may depend on the election and the Election Commission's prevailing instructions. Consult the applicable notification and rules.