Team Herald
MARGAO: The Administrative Tribunal has invalidated the elections to the Managing Committee of Comunidade of Verna, ruling that presiding officials violated mandatory open ballot requirements under the Code of Comunidades. In the judgment, Tribunal President Dvijple V Patkar upheld the appeal filed by Adv Savio J F Correia, who had contested for the post of President.
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The Tribunal held that the electoral process was compromised when the Presiding Officer distributed ballot papers randomly rather than sequentially by serial numbers, effectively conducting a secret ballot instead of the statutorily mandated open ballot system.
“The violations of the mandatory requirement of open ballot go to the root of the election process and renders the entire election void ab initio,” the Tribunal observed, interpreting the Portuguese term “escrutínio aberto” used in the original Code to mean votes must be open, transparent, and available for scrutiny.
The Tribunal critically noted that the minutes of the election merely stated that “open ballots were issued” without documenting how votes were cast, counted, or verified. This contrasted with practices in three neighbouring Comunidades—Dicarpale, Davorlim, and Margao—where voter identities and choices were transparently recorded.
Another irregularity highlighted was the discrepancy in ballot counting. Though 113 members were registered and received ballots, only 112 votes were accounted for in the final tally.
“The fate of one ballot paper and/or the identity of the member who did not place the ballot issued to him/her into the ballot box is unknown,” the judgment stated.
Citing Supreme Court precedents, the Tribunal emphasised that when statutes prescribe specific procedures, “the thing must be done in that way and not contrary to it at all.” The Tribunal has directed authorities to conduct fresh elections for all positions on the Managing Committee (except Attorney) in accordance with the Code of Comunidades.
