EC on backfoot, orders voter re-enrolment drive

Election Commission orders inclusion of left out and first time voters

* Form 6 can’t be filled by a deleted voter. It’s only for NEW voters. All those who have been forced to fill it have committed criminal offence carrying 1 yr prison. EC officials who forced them are abetters to crime. This press note shows ECI’s abetment!

- Dr SY Quraishi

Former CEC

metro india news  I new delhi : The Election Commission of India (ECI) has directed a special enrolment drive across states and Union Territories where the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls has already been completed. The move focuses on bringing back eligible voters whose names were left out during the revision process and ensuring the registration of first-time and young electors. In a letter dated October 1 (continuing instructions issued on September 29) and following a virtual meeting with all Chief Electoral Officers the same day, the Commission instructed CEOs, District Election Officers (DEOs) and Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) to undertake the drive under the continuous updation process.

Booth Level Officers (BLOs) have been tasked with comparing the current electoral rolls with the pre-SIR rolls to identify electors whose names appeared earlier but are missing from the revised lists. BLOs will then conduct house-to-house visits to verify the present status of these individuals. Where a person is found eligible and was not shifted, duplicated or deceased, officials will facilitate the filling of Form 6 for re-enrolment. Each BLO has been asked to cover at least 20–25 such electors per week, with the aim of completing the verification exercise in about one month. During these visits, BLOs will also assist any left-out eligible citizens as well as first-time and young voters who have newly become eligible.

The lists prepared by BLOs will be shared with Booth Level Agents (BLAs) of recognised political parties to maintain transparency. Electoral Registration Officers will later share booth-wise lists with political party representatives, giving them an additional opportunity to help eligible electors get enrolled. The Commission has also directed the organisation of booth-level camps, including special camps for people living in night shelters, labour colonies, and for homeless and marginalised sections of society. Awareness and mobilisation activities will be stepped up through educational institutions, local outreach programmes, Systematic Voters’ Education and Electoral Participation (SVEEP) initiatives, regular press briefings and other platforms so that every eligible citizen is informed of the opportunity to register.

The ECI has emphasised that voter enrolment is a continuous process. Any person who is not yet enrolled or whose name has been deleted can apply for inclusion at any time. The special drive is intended to identify and facilitate such electors, particularly in the 20 states and Union Territories where the SIR exercise has concluded. In these areas, the standard statutory Form 6 under the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960, will be used; the additional declaration linked to the SIR phase will not apply.

The directive comes against the backdrop of significant deletions recorded during the nationwide SIR. Reports indicate that around 13 crore names were removed from draft rolls across 30 states and Union Territories. In some sets of states and UTs, the combined electoral roll declined by about 10.2 per cent after the exercise, which also involved the removal of large numbers of deceased, shifted and duplicate entries. The Commission has faced criticism and political scrutiny over the scale of these deletions, with concerns raised about possible exclusion of genuine voters.By launching the special drive, the poll body seeks to address residual cases of omission while continuing to prioritise the integrity of the rolls.

Officials have been specifically advised to examine cases where voters were not mapped to another location and were neither duplicates nor deceased. Political parties’ booth-level agents are to be involved to aid the process. The ECI’s communication underscores that no eligible citizen should be denied the opportunity to be on the electoral roll simply because they were not included during the intensive revision phase. The one-month target for house-to-house verification, combined with special camps and awareness campaigns, is expected to accelerate the inclusion of both previously left-out electors and newly eligible young voters.

As the continuous updation mechanism remains open year-round, the special drive is positioned as a focused, time-bound effort to correct any genuine exclusions that may have occurred during the SIR. State election authorities are now expected to implement the instructions promptly and report progress through the established hierarchy of CEOs, DEOs and EROs.The development is being closely watched by political parties and civil society groups, given the recent intensity of the debate surrounding electoral roll revisions. The Commission maintains that the exercise is aimed at ensuring a clean, inclusive and accurate voters’ list ahead of future elections.