Do you know which colour ink is applied in the voters' forefinger in the Rajya Sabha elections? Why?
Electoral ink or indelible ink is a semi-permanent ink or stain that is applied to the forefinger (usually) of voters during elections to avert electoral cheating such as casting the vote repeatedly. It is an efficient way for nations where identification documents for citizens are not always standardised or institutionalised. Election ink utilizes silver nitrate, and extreme exposure can provoke argyria. It was first applied during the 1962 Indian general election, in Mysore State, now the modern-day state of Karnataka.
The unique pen with violet ink was founded following the so-called “ink controversy” that exploded in Haryana after 12 votes cast with markings in the incorrect ink were announced invalid.
In 2016, the Election Commission, which has the decree to conduct elections for the Rajya Sabha, declared that a uniquely made violet sketch pen will be presented to voters for the polls.
Those 12 votes were of Congress legislators and directed to the defeat of a party-backed independent competitor and lawyer RK Anand, who lost to Subhash Chandra, supported by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Two more votes were said invalid as the ballot was unmarked in one and Randeep Singh Surjewala’s vote was declined as he showed his vote to another legislator, Kiran Chaudhary.
The progress stoked a political rage and the Congress and the INLD had requested the Election Commission to cancel the election to both Rajya Sabha seats. Later a working group of senior officials recommended ways to stop a repeat of the ink failure in future Rajya Sabha polls, the Election Commission declared it compulsory for all voters to utilize only the pen given by polling officials. Votes identified in any other colour are considered invalid.
Since then the Election Commission provides the pens with violet ink, and these are held inside polling booths, and voters are not permitted to remove them.
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