Sikkim Votes! RANJIT SINGH

GANGTOK, 12 Apr: 5 pm might have been the scheduled time for the end of voting process, but the fact that voting continued well past this scheduled time with queues of pending voters in several polling stations awaiting their chance at franchise, is probably testimony to the zeal with which Sikkim went to vote today.
At the DAC, East, the Returning Officer when contacted at 5 pm stated that voting might continue up to 7 p.m. at many polling stations  as the queue still had a couple of hundred eager voters.
In a polling booth at Ranipool, a malfunctioning machine had to be replaced adding to the extra time at the end of play at 5 p.m.
Whatever may be the reasons for long queues still waiting to register their say in the makeup of the new government of Sikkim, it was evident today that voting had caught the imagination of the people with politics being the flavor of the season. As an election official pointed out, “This time there is a huge chunk of young and first time voters who have come out in large numbers”.
And it is true that the so called youth brigade was all over the place. By 1 p.m. today, already half the voting population had cast their vote. By 3 pm this figure had come to near 70% and by 4 pm the voter turnout for all districts stood at 76%, or 2.81 lakhs out of the total 3.70 lakhs. During the 2009 elections a total of 2.52 lakh people had voted out of the total electorate of 3.07 lakhs. So, already by 4 pm, the voting numbers had surpassed the figures of last elections.
The swelling of the electorate of Sikkim by almost 70,000 since the last elections was the main reason for the spilling of voting into overtime. Those in the queue were handed chits as is customary practice. However it was a grand show of collective responsibility and unity in deciding the future of the state on the part of the people. At the same time, the same can be said of the contesting candidates and political parties as well as the security personnel on duty that there was no a single untoward incident throughout the state today; at least none till the time of going to print.
The days preceding 12 April may have been littered with law & order breakdowns, complaints and allegations but the day that mattered the most went peacefully. None of the districts reported any problems. There were however some incidents of misreporting and rumour-mongering but even these collapsed on themselves eventually and did not hopefully influence how people voted. So, all in all, a successful day for Sikkim.
In fact, many heaved a sigh of relief that the day had come and gone.
“I am relieved,” said a government official on being asked how she felt on having cast her vote at the DAC, East Sikkim. Another young man echoed the same words at a polling booth in Namcheybung. This time, the campaigns and slew of allegations and assaults were probably a bit too much for the people of Sikkim. The emotion of relief was writ large on the faces of most of the people; most had become emotionally drained at the choice presented to them in terms of two major political parties competing for the next government.
For the young voters it was a picnic. “I feel good,” said one first time voter at Burtuk, while another expressed how empowered he had felt on casting his ballot. No doubt it is this chunk that could very well decide theirs as well as the future of the rest of the state. But Sikkim has also had among the oldest active voters as well. There were many aged and senior citizens lining up and being escorted by their young. It is, after all, their right.
As for voting itself, many polling booths saw rush hour in the first few hours of voting. In many places the people standing in line were seen to be complaining about the slow pace of voting. “I have been standing here for 3 hours,” said one at a polling station in Namcheybung. The presiding officers in polling booths had strict instructions to follow due procedures and this may have contributed to the slow pace of voting.
Another reason for the apparently slow process, as an election official informed, was that increase in the number of voters in some polling booths. As far as statistics go the Ben Namphrick Panchayat Ghar in Temi Namphing constituency has the largest number of voters at 1,450 followed by Penlong SSS for Kabi Lungchok constituency with 1,406 voters. The polling station at Zuluk Primary School under Gnathang Machong constituency has the lowest number of voters at 121 only; the second lowest number of voters are registered with the 10th Mile Primary School also under Kabi with 150 voters.

Sikkim votes today. All the best! RANJIT SINGH

GANGTOK, 11 Apr: Come polling season and the stakes go high, and this time around, the contest is clearly keener than it has been at least in the last decade. The way 3.69 lakh people vote on Saturday is going to play a deciding role in the direction the state takes in the near future and will also be a proclamation and legal stamp given by the people in the direction they want to go.

A total of 118 candidates from 32 constituencies belonging to 5 political parties and Independents will be tested for their political acumen and bankability when it comes to delivering on promises. In addition to this are 6 candidates contesting for the lone Lok Sabha seat.

All political parties including the Sikkim Democratic Front and the Sikkim Krantikari Morcha have encapsulated their programmes and policies in their respective party manifestos; the Congress and the BJP too have distributed their manifestos among the public. It remains to be seen whether the electorate can be swayed by promises contained in party manifestos or convinced by campaign speeches or tantalized by the spectre of change or are comfortable in the domain of stability.

An influential component this election will be the nearly 70,000 new voters. Both the major political parties, the SDF and the SKM have developed their agenda and manifestos with an eye on this chunk of young voters. There is no doubt that this youth brigade can swing the vote and play a decisive influence on the nature of the new government of Sikkim. And it is expected that they will come out in droves to have their first experience of adult franchise.

As it is, Sikkim is known to vote whole heartedly. Last elections Sikkim had among the highest voter turnouts in the country at 81.79% [the highest turnout thus far for Sikkim]. It will not be surprising if Sikkim records a new high in Elections 2014.

The Election Department here has been reasonably proactive in spreading the message of Right to Vote and information dissemination when it comes to voting, ballots, EVMs, voter cards and other paraphernalia related to elections and voting. There have been numerous drives for the enrolment of new voters which saw a few thousand more voters added to the total electorate in just the past few months. Also influential will be the women voters who comprise almost half the electorate at 1.79 lakhs voters in Sikkim with four constituencies – the three in North Sikkim and Namchi Singhithang having more female voters than males.

Polling begins 7 a.m. Saturday and will continue till 5 pm. Two hours additional time has been given for voting by the Election Commission of India this time around.

The commencement of voting will be preceded by a mock drill conducted by the Presiding Officer of the respective polling stations. This drill will be done in front of all candidates and it is to ensure that the EVM used for voting is sound and in good technical condition for the voting process. 

There are a total of 538 polling stations this time compared to 493 polling stations last elections. East district has the highest number of polling stations at 180 followed by South district with 154, West with 133 and North district with 44 polling stations.

Rhenock in East District has the highest number of polling stations with 26 followed by its neighbor, Chujachen with 25. Incidentally Rhenock also has the highest number of contesting candidates at 6. Another interesting piece of statistic is that Rhenock also has the second highest number of voters at 15153; the highest belonging to its neighbouring constituency of Chujachen which has 15402 voters.

The least number of polling stations are in Upper Tadong which has only 8. The Sangha seat has 51 polling stations housed in all the empanelled gumpas located throughout the state.

The territorial constituency of Lachen Mangan has the least number of voters with 6868 voters. Sangha constituency has 2904 voting monks.