The Proxy – Risks and Solution

The WHCAOWA Election is due on 5th May 2018. Well, we never heard of any WHCAOWA election since the birth of WHCAOWA in 2010…. did we? Yeah, from 2010 till 2017, WHCAOWA did exist on paper and handled over 30 crores of budget…. crazy, no !!

So, in this election one of the rule is that many people can give their proxy nomination to one person ….. let us call it as “many-to-one” proxy arrangement. The bye-laws state “one person or agent can cast only one vote” which means 1:1 proxy. So the “many-to-one” proxy arrangement adds to ever growing illegalities of the builder and WHCAOWA.

The proxies to me, Palak and several others started pouring in and at one point, I forced myself to think – Is this really in true spirit of democracy? Should I control so many votes? Is this not going to lead to a culture of “my vote for sale”?

The Risks of Many-to-one Proxy Voting

1. The person taking several proxies, can become a target of criminal intent
2. He/She can sway or rig election outcomes
3. We can see more instances of defection which may lead to more disharmony
4. The person can seek money or illicit favors in order to favor a particular group of candidates

Solution

1. Proxy should be limited to 1:1 or max 2:1.
2. Introduce e-voting system. This will cater to large, very large section of non-resident owners who are computer savvy. Check websites https://www.evotingindia.com and https://www.evoting.nsdl.com/

These are the neutral, safe, secure, confidential websites for e-voting for registered entities. They also offer services for Associations.

I wish I could take a high moral ground and dissociate myself with the current proxy arrangement. But then, as I said in my earlier blogs, we are playing on the rules set not by us. If I do not follow the rule, someone else will. So, I will use these many proxy nominations judiciously in anticipation that the upcoming EC will take care of this proxy issue.

Finally, we need a happy society and our actions should emulate the best practices. If we are not doing it, we are going to handover a regressive society to our future generations.