Lok Sabha Election 2019: When Indelible Ink Just Washes Off

The big, fat general elections of 2019 have begun in the largest democracy in the world. Indians across 91 constituencies and 20 states voted in the first phase of the elections on 11 April.

But for some voters, the excitement wore off as quickly as the so-called ‘indelible ink’.

For example, Sameeksha Khare’s finger was completely smudged in the application of the ‘indelible’ ink, so she decided to clean it up a bit. Little did she know that with just two delicate swipes, the ink would wash off. Completely.

“Does this look like the hand of someone who voted in the morning today? So was the batch in my polling booth faulty?”

Sameeksha Khare

Khare, a voter in Noida and Senior Correspondent at The Quint, was not alone in her experience. Ritu Kapur, The Quint’s CEO and Co-Founder, after hearing the news about Khare’s indelible ink mishap, decided to confirm for herself. Soon after voting at the Sector 41 booth in Noida, Kapur applied an alcohol-based solution and guess what? “Magic – the mark was gone,” she tweeted.

It’s worrying that the ink can be removed so easily but Kapur hopes that there are multiple safety checks. “I am hoping there are multiple safety checks, beyond the indelible ink. Signatures. Data cross check. CCTV cameras that documented my entry into the venue,” says Kapur.

Just when the online conversation of how easily indelible ink could be washed away gained momentum on social media, The Quint’s My Report team received an email from Noida-based Shreyas Kulshreshth, who shared photos of how her indelible ink was also easily removed soon after she returned home from voting at her polling booth in Sector 50, Noida.

Smriti Singh, who was among thousands of voters who voted in the first phase and was also among the few whose ink was washed away.

“I was able to remove it after half an hour of getting inked, which is basically by the time I reached home and then washed my hands,” she told us.

Monica Sarup, The Quint’s Senior Editor, flaunted her indelible ink through the day. But after 10 hours, her curiosity gave in and she too applied alcohol-based solution. And voila! The indelible ink vanished. Just like that! Monica’s polling booth was DPS Indirapuram, Ghaziabad.

Just when we thought that this might be a problem specific to Uttar Pradesh’s Noida and Ghaziabad, Arshiya, from Hyderabad, reached out to us on Twitter with a similar story.

“My sister was able to remove the ink from her nail,” said Arshiya.

Such incidents should worry the Election Commission and it should ensure that in the remaining six phases, voters should not have similar complaints.

(All 'My Report' branded stories are submitted by citizen journalists to The Quint. Though The Quint inquires into the claims/allegations from all parties before publishing, the report and the views expressed above are the citizen journalist's own. The Quint neither endorses, nor is responsible for the same.)