The recently concluded Madras High Court Advocates Association (MHAA) elections garnered keen attention from Advocates across Tamil Nadu for various reasons.
The recently concluded Madras High Court Advocates Association (MHAA) elections garnered keen attention from Advocates across Tamil Nadu for various reasons. MHAA, one of the oldest and largest Associations, had not held elections for six years since 2016. The High Court appointed the Teller Committe to conduct the elections. In January of this year, the elections were initially stalled, leading to hearings and claims for changing Committee members. Eventually, the Court decided on the administrative side, allowing the same Teller Committee to resume the election from where it had stopped, creating serious doubts before the election.
On 15/12/2023, the Committee conducted the elections at the Association halls, introducing QR codes for the first time. With approval from various High Court Committees, the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) and a robust police contingent were posted to ensure security. The polling process began at 9:45 am, with the QR code vote slip proving successful. Tight CISF checking ensured that only valid voters could pass through, resulting in a peaceful and smooth polling process. Despite rain interruption in the afternoon, a significant voter turnout was observed, and about 100 Advocates volunteered for the polling process. The four booths, each with a distinctive color scheme (Pink, Orange, Red, and Green), saw a continuous queue, and out of 4730 voters, approximately 3430 cast their votes seamlessly with no incidents of fake voting. The polling concluded at 5 p.m.
Counting commenced promptly after arranging the boxes and continued until 12:45 am on 16/12/2023 when the results for the President and Secretary were announced. The next two days witnessed the counting and announcement of results for other positions, with counting concluding each day at 12:30 pm. The Teller Committee, supported by about 190 volunteers, worked efficiently, leaving no room for grievances. The Result Declaration certificate was issued on Monday to the elected candidates, receiving appreciation from all. The election unfolded smoothly, and the introduced QR code was a hit – a first in India. Livestreaming the voting and counting on YouTube added transparency to the entire process. The QR Code verification facilitated foolproof polling, completely eliminating false voting. This innovation set a high standard for democratic election processes, sparking discussions among other associations to adopt this method for fair polls. The Teller Committee, led by Mr. M.K. Kabir, Senior Advocate, Mr. C.T. Mohan, Senior Advocate, Ms. Devika, Mr. V. Srikanth, Mr. S. Sivashanmugam, Mr. C.K. Chandrasekhar, Advocates, and Mr. C. Raja Kumar, Secretary Bar Council of Tamil Nadu, deserves praise for this remarkable achievement. This election will be remembered by all Advocates for setting high standards in the conduct of elections.
