Hundreds of teaching staff on poll duty deprived of voting rights as errors in postal ballot papers disqualify them for exercising their franchise

They are all educated and even educate the rest. Yes, school and college teachers, who are on election duties, often find themselves ejected from the voting process. There is a system in place to ensure that policemen, army personnel, people in difficult terrain, foreign service officials on posting abroad and the teaching and non teaching staff engaged in election duties to exercise their franchise – through Postal Ballot Papers.

Why then most teachers on poll duty, for example here in Coimbatore, are deprived of their chance to vote? The devil, it is difficult to believe, is the data entry operator who introduces some errors in the postal ballot forms, with either name spelt wrong or incorrect details filled up. Most often, the errors are detected late and to get them corrected is an exercise in itself.

Most of the times, the teaching staff members are unable to get the rectifications done in time and are ejected out of the electoral system.

Said a former member of the Association of University Teachers (AUT), this time around more than 3000 teaching and non-teaching staff working with higher education institutions are engaged in election duties. These were given postal ballot papers by the respective Returning Officers, after they gave their valid documents and identity proof.

Some professors alleged that mistakes are introduced in the forms by the data entry operators, deliberately they allege. “It is to see that the educated do not get to vote,” charges a professor who ran from pillar to post to get the mistakes rectified – but with no luck. The last date for polling runs out tomorrow and he sees no chance of getting the all important document in time.

“So like last time, this time too I will have to go without voting,” he said. Many teaching staff on poll duty during the 2011 assembly polls had not voted for this reason.

But a senior police official discounted this allegation and said in the case of police personnel, this problem did not crop up. Because police personnel are mostly on security duties on polling days, they have to use PSBs, most of the time.

“The PBPs of teachers are filled by separate staff from the Collectorate in bulk, so there are chances that errors might occur,” the police official said discounting the possibility that this was done on purpose.

In fact, even this is not such an issue had it been the teachers and professors could get the information rectified, with ease. No such luck for most of them, like the professor who failed despite several attempts and rounds of the administration office.

“This makes us feel that the errors are done deliberately just to make sure that we don’t cast our votes,” pondered a professor who has been having the issue for a long time.

District collector and District Electoral Officer Archana Patnaik claimed that any mistakes that were brought to them were being rectified “immediately”.

Another official from the election commission, when contacted, surmised that it was possible that the errors were detected at the proverbial eleventh hour and they may not have applied for rectification in time.

But, this explanation did not cut ice with teachers in Tanjore, who held up traffic to protest against the election commission for its failure to send the PBPs in time to them