Voting Out Urban Apathy: How ECI Checkmated ‘Long Weekend Planners’ with J&K, Haryana Poll Schedule
Voting in Jammu and Kashmir will be done on September 18 and 25 (both Wednesdays). The third phase of J&K and the single-phase polling in Haryana will be held on October 1 (Tuesday). Representational image: ANI
There were several phases in the April-June Lok Sabha polls – six out of the seven – when polling was done on Fridays, Mondays, or Saturdays. This allowed some urban voters to club weekends with the polling day holiday and skip voting
The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Friday announced the schedule for the assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir as well as Haryana. The poll body has kept weekdays, not around the weekends, as the polling dates to not allow voters wiggle room to arrange minibreaks and getaways in its fight against urban apathy.
There were several phases in the April-June Lok Sabha polls – six out of the seven – when polling was done on Fridays, Mondays, or Saturdays. This allowed some urban voters to club weekends with the polling day holiday and skip voting. Compared to 2019, this Lok Sabha election saw a lower voter turnout.
Lessons learnt
Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar while announcing the schedule on Friday said that this time the poll body has kept this in mind while finalising the polling dates. J&K will have polls in three phases while Haryana will go for single-phase polling.
Voting in Jammu and Kashmir will be done on September 18 and 25 (both Wednesdays). The third phase of J&K and the single-phase polling in Haryana will be held on October 1 (Tuesday).
“The date of the poll will be September 18, and it’s a Wednesday. We are also keeping in mind that elections are not held on Fridays or Mondays to give a long holiday,” Kumar said.
The CEC also said that the electoral rolls will be published in August for both Haryana and J&K, but if any voters fail to get registered, they can do it before the nomination process starts.
In April and May, after the phases of Lok Sabha elections reported low voter turnout in urban areas, News18 reported the connection between weekend polling dates and urban apathy.
In March 2023, while announcing the dates for the Karnataka assembly polls, the commission had said that polling midweek bars the urban working class from clubbing the voting holiday with regular offs and takes away the option of a long weekend. Polling in the state was done on Wednesday.
However, the poll body did not follow this rule in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. The first two phases were conducted on Fridays and, both times, the voter turnout was lower than in 2019, except for a few seats. The fourth and fifth phases were conducted on Mondays and the last two phases were held on Saturdays.
Polling stations in slums, multi-storey housing societies
Another step that the ECI has taken this time in its fight against urban apathy is putting up polling stations in slums and multi-storey housing societies in urban areas.
“In Gurugram, Faridabad, and Sonipat a number of multi-storey housing societies will have polling stations. In slums, rationalisation has been done so that congestion can be checked and voting percentage can be improved,” Kumar said, listing out measures to control urban apathy.
In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the three urban seats saw lower voter turnout than in 2019.
The counting of votes for the Jammu & Kashmir and Haryana assembly will be done on October 4.
