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{{Use Indian English|date=March 2019}} | {{Use Indian English|date=March 2019}} | ||
'''Booth capturing or booth looting''' is | '''Booth capturing''', or '''booth looting''', is [[electoral fraud]] in which party loyalists or hired criminals "capture" a [[polling station|polling booth]] and vote in place of legitimate voters to ensure that a particular candidate wins. It is a form of [[voter suppression]]. | ||
== | == India == | ||
It is a general rule in Indian elections that agents of every contesting candidates need to be present at the booth.{{Citation needed|date=August 2021}} | It is a general rule in Indian elections that agents of every contesting candidates need to be present at the booth.{{Citation needed|date=August 2021}} However, they are in many areas threatened or assaulted and so leave the polling premises. The [[Election Commission of India]] has a general abbreviation that a section or half of onr of Central Para Military Forces is enough to prevent incidents.{{Citation needed|date=August 2021}} | ||
The first instance of booth capturing in India was recorded in the [[1957 Indian general election|1957 General Elections]] in Rachiyahi, in [[Begusarai District]]'s [[Matihani (Vidhan Sabha constituency)|Matihani assembly seat]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/patna/Where-booth-capturing-was-born/articleshow/1020435.cms|title=Where booth capturing was born}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/In-central-Bihar-development-runs-into-caste-wall/articleshow/49038630.cms|title=In central Bihar, development runs into caste wall}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.telegraphindia.com/1151010/jsp/bihar/story_47122.jsp#.VhikSeyqqko|title=Empty words in legend's forgotten village}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ibnlive.com/news/politics/the-myth-of-historys-first-booth-capturing-taking-place-in-begusarais-rachiyahi-1150034.html|title=The myth of history's first booth capturing taking place in Begusarai's Rachiyahi}}</ref> The word came into prominent use in the media during the late 1970s and 1980s when the number of parties and candidates multiplied. This resulted in some Parties using underhand methods including booth capturing, especially in the rural India. | The first instance of booth capturing in India was recorded in the [[1957 Indian general election|1957 General Elections]] in Rachiyahi, in [[Begusarai District]]'s [[Matihani (Vidhan Sabha constituency)|Matihani assembly seat]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/patna/Where-booth-capturing-was-born/articleshow/1020435.cms|title=Where booth capturing was born}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/In-central-Bihar-development-runs-into-caste-wall/articleshow/49038630.cms|title=In central Bihar, development runs into caste wall}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.telegraphindia.com/1151010/jsp/bihar/story_47122.jsp#.VhikSeyqqko|title=Empty words in legend's forgotten village}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ibnlive.com/news/politics/the-myth-of-historys-first-booth-capturing-taking-place-in-begusarais-rachiyahi-1150034.html|title=The myth of history's first booth capturing taking place in Begusarai's Rachiyahi}}</ref> The word came into prominent use in the media during the late 1970s and 1980s when the number of parties and candidates multiplied. This resulted in some Parties using underhand methods including booth capturing, especially in the rural India. | ||
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In 1989 the Representation of the People Act, 1951 was modified to include booth capturing as an offense punishable by law and countermanding or adjourning any poll that was booth captured.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://indiankanoon.org/doc/320017/|title=The Representation of the People Act, 1951|website=indiankanoon.org|access-date=2018-05-19}}</ref> The development of the [[Indian voting machines|Electronic Voting Machine]] (EVM) was also intended to make it harder for booth capturers to stuff the ballot boxes with their votes by enabling a five-minute delay between each vote entered as against hundreds of votes in the same time using ballot papers (stamped by a group of 3–4).<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.business-standard.com/article/economy-policy/booth-capturing-is-history-now-thanks-to-evms-109082503018_1.html|title=Booth capturing is history now, thanks to EVMs|agency=Press Trust of India|date=2009-08-25|work=Business Standard India|access-date=2018-05-19}}</ref> The [[Electronic Voting Machine|EVMs]] also possess a "close" button which can be used by the polling officer to deactivate the machines. Despite this, booth capturing continues to happen, albeit at a much reduced rate.{{Citation needed|date=August 2021}} | In 1989 the Representation of the People Act, 1951 was modified to include booth capturing as an offense punishable by law and countermanding or adjourning any poll that was booth captured.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://indiankanoon.org/doc/320017/|title=The Representation of the People Act, 1951|website=indiankanoon.org|access-date=2018-05-19}}</ref> The development of the [[Indian voting machines|Electronic Voting Machine]] (EVM) was also intended to make it harder for booth capturers to stuff the ballot boxes with their votes by enabling a five-minute delay between each vote entered as against hundreds of votes in the same time using ballot papers (stamped by a group of 3–4).<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.business-standard.com/article/economy-policy/booth-capturing-is-history-now-thanks-to-evms-109082503018_1.html|title=Booth capturing is history now, thanks to EVMs|agency=Press Trust of India|date=2009-08-25|work=Business Standard India|access-date=2018-05-19}}</ref> The [[Electronic Voting Machine|EVMs]] also possess a "close" button which can be used by the polling officer to deactivate the machines. Despite this, booth capturing continues to happen, albeit at a much reduced rate.{{Citation needed|date=August 2021}} | ||
== | == Nepal == | ||
Booth capturing was prevalent in [[1st Nepalese Constituent Assembly]]. | Booth capturing was prevalent in the [[1st Nepalese Constituent Assembly]]. Another election was required in 106 polling stations because of electoral fraud, which included booth capturing.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Nepal|first=Dev Raj|date=August 2010|title=Elections and Conflict in Nepal|url=https://library.fes.de/pdf-files/iez/07722.pdf|journal=Friedrich Ebert Stiftung|pages=20}}</ref> Political parties have accused each other of booth capturing and demanded another election as recently as 2017.<ref>{{Cite web|title=NC alleges ‘booth capture’|url=https://kathmandupost.com/national/2017/06/30/nc-alleges-booth-capture|access-date=2021-08-05|website=kathmandupost.com|language=English}}</ref> | ||
==See also== | ==See also== | ||