Exit and opinion polls during elections are set to come to an end. Ahead of the coming assembly as well as Lok Sabha elections, the government has decided to give the go ahead to a proposal to amend the Representation of People’s Act, 1951 that will place restrictions on conducting of such polls and surveys when the election process is on.
A government note on the subject contends that exit polls suffer from two serious limitations. One, that the correctness of the poll cannot be guaranteed, and two, the sample taken by the agency may be too small to give a correct picture.
The proposal was withheld earlier after the law ministry sought more time to study it in the wake of criticism that such bans violated the fundamental right to freedom of expression. The ministry, however, has opined that while the restriction may have a temporary effect on right of the media to propagate the right of the public to receive information, they can be justified on the greater necessity to ensure free and fair elections. The ministry maintains that the proposed law would have to be defended on the basis of the Supreme Court judgment which holds that free and fair elections is one of the basic features of the Constitution.
The need to ensure legislative cover in banning exit polls became necessary after the apex court censured the Election Commission for taking such action without any legal sanctity. In 1999, the EC had imposed a ban on exit polls on the basis of opinion of national and state political parties, who had agreed with the view that the surveys were not only unscientifically conducted, but were motivated and aimed at influencing voters. This was challenged in some high courts, which then led the EC to convene another meeting of political parties in 2004. This meeting arrived at the consensus that results of exit polls conducted during any stage should not be published or telecast before the close of the last phase of elections.
In defence of its proposal, the Commission has further argued that telecast of such polls affects voter turnout also. Citing the instance of assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh, where the poll process was held in seven phases, the EC contended that telecast of exit polls after each phase affected outcome of subsequent phases. It has maintained that precondition for a fair election is to ensure...
