New Delhi, Nov 23: Trendy marker pens could soon replace bottle and brush at polling booths for marking index fingers of voters.
India’s Election Commission has started “testing” the marker pens, provided by Karnataka-based Mysore Paints, as replacement for bottles of indelible ink and brushes. Indelible ink has been an integral part of Indian elections since 1962.
The move was initiated following feedback the EC received from voters, especially the youth, that marking done by brushes is not neat.
The other major reason is that pens will be easier to store and transport than bottle along with a brush.
The marker pens provided by Mysore Paints were used in the recently-held elections in Afghanistan.
Indelible ink is used to mark voters’ fingers during polling to avoid fraudulent, multiple voting and malpractices. Once it is applied on finger, it remains for a few months, the company has claimed, although there have been reports of some people managing to erase it.
A bottle of indelible ink contains 10 cubic centimeters (cc) whereas a pen will have much lesser capacity of 3 cc. As per modern measurement methods, one cubic centimeter is equivalent to one milliliter.
