When 27-year-old Rifa went to vote in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections on Tuesday, she had read up on her local candidates and was eager to cast her vote.
But just four hours later, the visible mark of her participation had almost disappeared. Like many others, Rifa said that this time, a marker pen was used instead of the usual indelible ink.
“It’s a matter of concern for me as voting is my responsibility and my right,” she told The Quint. “The polling booth official had 3 markers next to them which looked like regular markers, there was no symbol on them. After leaving the booth, I was fidgeting with my finger and realised its fading. Four to five hours later, it was almost completely gone, just with water.”
As Maharashtra voted in 29 municipal corporations on Tuesday, including the high-stakes BMC polls, voters across the state have raised similar complaints about the ink used to mark their fingers after voting.
Several voters told The Quint that instead of the traditional indelible ink, officials used marker pens that could be easily removed with water, acetone, sanitiser, or nail polish remover. Political party representatives, meanwhile said they were not informed about any change in the ink being used this time.
This issue has raised concerns about the risk of bogus voting and impersonation, especially since draft voter lists have flagged over 11 lakh duplicate entries.
Election Commission Responds
The State Election Commission dismissed claims that the use of markers could compromise the voting process. Issuing a statement on Tuesday afternoon after parties and citizens took to social media to flag the issue, it said that it was "an offence to try and create confusion among voters by trying to erase the ink."
“If we identify any voter coming to the booth after erasing the ink, action will be taken against the voter. Even if any voter like this comes up, he/she won’t be able to vote again because officials take note of those exercising their rights.”State Election Commission
The Commission noted that it had issued orders in November 2011 regarding the use of marker pens for inking the finger of voters and this was used since then for local body elections, but that it should be “rubbed three or four times on the nail and the skin above the nail.”
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, meanwhile, said while the Election Commission should look into the allegations, "Creating issues on everything is wrong for for our democratic process," claiming that the Opposition was doing so because they were losing.
However, voters and opposition parties argued that the purpose of the indelible ink was to prevent repeat voting. Traditionally India uses indelible inks for elections to ensure that each voter gets only one vote. The ink typically lasts from two days to two months. The ink is manufactured by Mysore Paints & Varnish Ltd since 1962, which has been licensed by the government. This unique India phenomenon is now used by the same company in over 25 countries such as Canada, Maldives, and South Africa.
Ruben Mascarenhas, Mumbai Working President of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), told The Quint that they had formally written to the Election Commission about this as it is “unacceptable.”
“There’s a standard practice of applying indelible ink in elections in India, which is manufactured by the government and is not supposed to be erased easily. But this time they used sketch pen markers, which can be easily erased with acetone. This increased the possibility of bogus voting and impersonating, especially since there’s anyway been an issue of duplicate numbers.”Ruben Mascarenhas
“It’s Like I Never Voted”
“When I came home from the polling booth, I realised since I was scratching my nails, a bit of the mark was coming off. I decided to try a nail polish remover and it came off completely. It’s like I never voted,” said Priyanka Parulekar, a Mumbai-based writer and law student.
Filmmaker Shashank Udapurkar told The Quint that the overall voting process itself felt chaotic this time.
“It took me a long time to find my name in the ward list. When I finally voted, I was surprised to see a marker pen being used instead of indelible ink. Later I saw news claiming the mark could be removed with toner—out of curiosity I tried it, and it did come off. This is very disturbing.”Shashank Udapurkar
A 28-year-old first-time voter from Panvel, who voted in the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation election, said she was caught off guard by the use of a marker.
“I voted for the first time from the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation. Going in, I expected that they would mark my finger using the traditional election ink. To my surprise, they used a black permanent marker pen to mark my index," she said. "As soon as I stepped out of the polling booth, out of curiosity I tried to see if the marker pen is really lasting and tried to wipe off the line on my nail and it partially rubbed off immediately. I’m not sure why they would switch to this method and if the switch even was publicly informed."
Another voter from Bhandup, Mumbai, said the marker didn’t even stain her nail polish properly.
“The last time I voted, they had the traditional black ink to confirm my vote. This time however, it was a black permanent marker which didn’t even go over my nail polish correctly, just the skin. Not sure why this change was done in the first place and people were not informed about it.”
Political Reactions
BJP's Yuva Morcha President and a candidate in for the BMC elections, Tajinder Singh Tiwana, told The Quint, "Markers have been used in the past for MLA and local body elections. But if it is being removed easily, the Election Commission should take this up. We will discuss this issue internally first."
Anand Dubey, spokesperson of Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray faction), told The Quint that the party was discussing its response and they were not aware of this until voters raised the issue today.
Raising the issue in a media statement, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) Chief Raj Thackeray, meanwhile, claimed, that "The entire administration is working for the ruling party."
"This isn’t a sign of good democracy. This isn’t what we call governance. Everyone should be alert. There’s a limit to misusing power. Shiv Sena and MNS supporters should keep an eye on those re-voting and wiping off the ink."Raj Thackeray
Anish Gawande, national spokesperson for NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar faction), claimed party workers had found cleaning agents at BJP offices in Pune and PCMC that could remove the marker ink.
"After multiple reports of permanent markers being used instead of indelible ink, NCP workers from both factions went to BJP offices in Pune and PCMC and finding there were cleaning agents similar to sanitisers that were stocked at the offices that could be used to remove the mark left by polling officers. On whose behest was such a change been made and who is benefitting from this?"
The voter turnout in Mumbai till 3:30 pm was 41.08 percent.