MUMBAI: After the nationwide storm over the allegedly compromised SIR process which left millions of electors off the voter rolls, the Election Commission of India (ECI) has backed down. After initially refusing to share the details of anomalies and unmapped entries with the booth-level agents (BLAs) appointed by political parties, it has agreed to do so.
Around 12.2 million electors had been sent notices for anomalies in their details, such as the spelling of their name, wrong birthdate or the age difference between son and father, among others, and for ‘unmapped’ entries with their credentials from the 2004 SIR. Chockalingam also held an online conference with 288 Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) and over 7,000 AEROs on Tuesday to familiarise them with the new guidelines. The office of Maharashtra’s chief electoral officer (CEO) S Chockalingam on Thursday issued revised guidelines to all district electoral officers.
In a significant step, the lists of electors whose names were flagged for unmapped entries or logical discrepancies will be made available to political party representatives at the polling-centre level before any final decisions (of deleting the names) are taken. Parties will be able to assist in facilitating the submission of documents by concerned electors, as the BLAs appointed by them are in close contact with these electors. The Maharashtra CEO’s office has also directed that adequate time be given to electors to submit documents, and that no eligible voter be excluded from the electoral roll without due consideration. The instructions further call for special camps/help desks for vulnerable groups and caution officials to ensure that no inconvenience is caused to electors. The central ECI has already directed that the necessary changes be made to the ECINet software and BLO app to implement the revised procedure. The district-level electoral officers have also been asked to arrange special camps for the homeless, tribals, orphans, sex workers and others who cannot produce documents.
Under the revised process, Booth Level Officers (BLOs) will visit the homes of electors left off the rolls, collect the required documents and upload them on ECINet for consideration by the Electoral Registration Officer (ERO) or Assistant ERO. The BLOs have been directed to add a footnote to the notice, stating that electors will be required to appear personally for a hearing only in exceptional cases.
