[COVID-19] Uttarakhand High Court asks Election Commission to consider virtual rallies, online voting for Assembly polls

The Uttarakhand High Court on Wednesday asked the Election Commission of India (ECI) to consider holding virtual rallies and online voting in the upcoming assembly elections scheduled to be held amidst the rising wave of Covid’s Omicron variant [Sachdanand Dabral v Union of India and Ors]..A Division Bench of Acting Chief Justice Sanjaya Kumar Mishra and Justice Alok Kumar Verma has also asked the ECI to consider issuing appropriate guidelines prohibiting large public gatherings for the election campaign. The Court gave the ECI a weeks’ time to come up with instructions on the issue and listed the matter for further hearing on January 12."Let the Election Commission of India consider issuing appropriate directions prohibiting a large public rallies for the ensuing the election for the Uttarakhand State Legislative Assembly and to take a decision The Election Commission shall also consider for issuing appropriate directions for campaigning in virtual mode. We also request the Election Commission of India to consider the alternative of virtual voting in future," the Court said. .The Court was hearing a bunch of Public Interest Litigations (PILs) concerned with the state's handling of the Covid-19 pandemic. An application was moved by advocate Shiv Bhatt in these PILs seeking postponement of elections.The Court had issued notice to the Election Commission on the plea on December 29, 2021.The application stated that the new Omicron variant is spreading 300% faster than any other variant of Covid and therefore, to protect the lives of people it is necessary that large gatherings like election rallies be avoided.“The Assembly Elections in the State of Uttarakhand is going to be scheduled in the month of February-March, 2022 and for which as on date there are enormous ‘Election Rallies’ being held by all the Political Parties. It is pertinent to state here that in the above election rallies of the political parties neither the social distancing was followed nor people have worn Mask. The photographs and the videos are available on ‘YouTube’,” read the application.On Wednesday, Bhatt told the Court that the medical infrastructure in the Himalayan state is in a very dismal state and if the elections are held at the peak of Omicron wave, conditions will only get worse..[Read Order]