The Election Commission has directed state Chief Electoral Officers (CEOs) to organise special camps to facilitate the inclusion of homeless people living in night shelters and labour colonies in the electoral rolls.
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Election Commission Takes Major Decision Amid SIR Controversy
New Delhi: The Election Commission will conduct door-to-door verification of voters whose names have been left out of the final electoral roll, according to a Dainik Jagran reportThis report comes amid the ongoing protests and controversy over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR)A special campaign will be launched across all 20 states and Union Territories, including Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal, to identify voters who have been left out and to add the names of new eligible voters to the electoral rolls.
According to the report, Booth Level Officers (BLOs) will visit voters’ homes to conduct the verification and submit their reports to Electoral Registration Officers (EROs), who will take the final decision on the inclusion of names.
In its instructions to the states, the Election Commission has made it clear that the exercise must be completed within a monthEach BLO has been given a target of reaching at least 20 to 25 voters every week.
To recall, the Election Commission earlier had instructed all BLOs to prepare a list of voters whose names were missing or had been deleted from the final electoral roll prepared before and after the SIRBased on this list, the BLOs are required to conduct door-to-door verification once again to ascertain the details of voters whose names were left out or removed.
The Election Commission has directed the Chief Electoral Officers (CEOs) of the states to organise special camps to add the names of homeless people living in night shelters and labour colonies to the electoral rolls.
Here are some of the key details:
- If the officials find that any voter’s name was omitted by mistake, they will be required to fill out Form 6 afresh.
- The list of such applicants will then be shared with Booth Level Agents (BLAs) associated with political parties.
- This will ensure that if there is any objection to any name, it can be addressed immediately.
- The process of adding these new names will be carried out strictly in accordance with the Representation of the People Act, 1950, and the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960.
It is worth noting that so far, during the SIR exercise, the names of around 13 crore voters have either been excluded from the electoral rolls or identified for removalThese include 2.8 crore deceased voters, 6.3 crore voters who have permanently migrated, 3 crore voters who were absent or whose information could not be verified, and 1 crore duplicate votersMaharashtra accounted for the highest number of deletions, with 2.07 crore names removed from the electoral rolls.
