Members will be provided with printed slips to record their votes during the Parliament session

The Parliament’s monsoon session, to be held between September 14 and October 1, will not see the use of any electronic voting system and the lawmakers will cast their votes through traditional paper ballots. The step comes in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic and the Members of Parliament have been advised to maintain social distancing, said a Hindustan Times report.

“Recording of votes during Divisions, as and when required, will be held under Rule 367A as per the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the Lok Sabha by distribution of slips. Division slips will be provided to those members who are seated in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha chambers and galleries only,” the report quoted a notice of the Lok Sabha secretariat released on Monday.

Electronic voting implies instantaneous results and the process takes less than five minutes. The ballots, including distribution and counting, take at least around half an hour.

“Members will be supplied with ‘ayes’/‘noes’ printed slips at their seats for recording their votes. ‘ayes’ slips are printed on one side in green and ‘noes’ on its reverse in red, both in English and Hindi languages,” the notice said as quoted in the report.

The notice further said that members may record votes of their choice by signing and writing legibly their names, division numbers, and date. The ones who desire to record ‘abstention’ can ask for ‘abstention’ slips as per the report.

The 18-day Parliament session will see the passing of at least 11 ordinances, including three on-farm sector reforms, and a few other pending bills, said the report.