One Voter, One Form

Multiple Voter Cards? Submit only One Enumeration Form or face Action under the law. EC sounds legal warning

Metro India News | Hyderabad 

The Election Commission issued a strong message to voters participating in Telangana's ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls: one voter, one form, one valid electoral roll entry. As Booth Level Officers (BLOs) fan out across the State for a month long door to door verification exercise, officials have made it clear that electors possessing multiple voter cards or enrolled in more than one constituency must regularise their records by submitting only one Enumerator Form.

The SIR exercise, which began on June 25, is the biggest voter verification drive undertaken in Telangana in nearly 25 years. BLOs will visit every household until July 24 to distribute and collect prefilled Enumeration Forms before the draft electoral rolls are published on July 31. Voters will then have a month to file claims, corrections and objections before the final rolls are released later in the process.

At the heart of the exercise is a legally binding declaration contained in the Enumeration Form. Every elector must certify that neither they nor the family member mentioned in the application is enrolled in any other Assembly or Parliamentary constituency. Election officials cautioned that furnishing false information can invite prosecution under Section 31 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950, which provides for imprisonment of up to one year, a fine, or both.

Officials also clarified that every submitted Enumeration Form will be digitally scanned and securely stored from the Booth Level Officer level to the Electoral Registration Officer and the Chief Electoral Office. These digitised records will serve as permanent evidence if any false declaration or duplicate enrolment is detected during future verification or legal proceedings. The Election Commission says the objective is not to delete voters indiscriminately but to improve the quality of the electoral rolls by identifying duplicate, shifted, deceased and otherwise ineligible entries while ensuring that genuine electors are protected. Authorities repeatedly clarified that records flagged during the preliminary digital scrutiny are not automatically deleted.

A flagged record merely triggers field verification and gives the elector an opportunity to clarify any discrepancy. Former CBI Joint Director and retired IPS officer V. V. Lakshminarayana appealed to citizens to actively cooperate with the exercise. He noted that Hyderabad, in particular, has witnessed instances where voters continue to hold voter registrations both within GHMC limits and in Andhra Pradesh. Such electors, he said, should voluntarily choose one constituency and submit only one valid Enumerator Form, as retaining dual enrolment could invite legal consequences if detected later.

Election authorities are also encouraging voters to complete the process online through the Voters' Service Portal, where Enumeration Forms can be filled, electronically signed and submitted using OTP authentication. However, even online submissions will be verified through physical visits by BLOs.

With lakhs of Enumeration Forms already distributed across Telangana, the Commission says the message is straightforward: cooperate with the verification, provide accurate information, maintain only one valid voter registration, and help build a cleaner, more credible electoral roll before the next election.

Family claims SIR stress led to driver's suicide

A 40-year-old man allegedly died by suicide at his residence in Bharat Nagar, Borabanda, with family members claiming that prolonged stress over discrepancies in official documents and concerns related to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls pushed him into depression.

The deceased, identified as Shaik Mujeeb, was working as a car driver. According to his relatives, he had been struggling for months to correct errors in his identity documents, including variations in the spelling of his name across his passport, Aadhaar card and other official records.

Family members alleged that Mujeeb feared the discrepancies could create complications during the Election Commission's ongoing SIR process, as he was unable to establish the required linkage with the 2002 electoral rolls. They claimed he had spent nearly Rs 1.5 lakh, including around Rs 40,000 on obtaining income and caste certificates, besides paying agents to rectify the document errors.

His relatives further said Mujeeb was deeply worried about the future of his two specially-abled sons and had become increasingly distressed after repeated attempts to resolve the documentation issues failed.

Mohd Imam, a relative of the deceased, alleged that Mujeeb slipped into depression due to mounting financial burden and uncertainty over his documents. The family has linked his death to the stress caused by the unresolved discrepancies and the SIR verification process.

Based on a complaint filed by the family, Borabanda police have registered a case and launched an investigation. Police said the exact circumstances leading to the death will be established after completing the inquiry.