Ex-EC SY Quraishi on transparency, winning opposition trust and ensuring fair elections

Former Chief Election Commissioner of India, SY Quraishi, while stressing the need for the EC to be transparent to maintain the trust of citizens, proposed a hybrid mechanism to win the confidence of both the opposition and in the use of EVMs, while underlining that credibility alone could determine the institution’s strength.

He argued that the health of the democratic process in India depended less on the technicalities of electoral management and more on the image of fairness projected by the Election Commission.

Reflecting on his tenure, Quraishi noted that credibility acted as a shield for the institution, since even mistakes were forgiven when public faith was intact and even bona fide steps came under suspicion once credibility was eroded.

He recalled that when allegations were raised against EVMs during his term, he refused to treat the critics as adversaries and instead convened all parties to deliberate, which resulted in the introduction of the Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) to improve transparency.

The key lay in engaging the opposition with openness, since governments in power could always push their agenda, but the real test of fairness lay in accommodating those who were politically weaker, he added.

Quraishi said the strength of any institution reflected the personality of those leading it, since leadership could either consolidate credibility or erode it, and he pointed out that while the BJP had once been the most vocal critic of electronic voting machines, it eventually became their strongest advocate, which proved that confidence in electoral technology was not fixed but built through dialogue, negotiation, and trust.

He added that during his time, he ensured opposition leaders received preference in appointments because he considered them the underdogs of the democratic process who needed reassurance from the Election Commission to feel included.

Quraishi said the Election Commission’s declining image was worrying as surveys showed trust ratings had fallen from near-universal confidence to barely one-third of the population, and he urged that concerns could not be brushed aside while calling for reforms in the appointment of Election Commissioners, noting that India’s system had been diluted by executive dominance.

He also raised concerns about prolonged multi-phase elections in the age of social media, since the spread of polling over months left space for hate speech and disinformation to multiply, and he advocated a return to single-phase elections, which could reduce costs and limit opportunities for polarisation.