The Election Commission of India (ECI) has asked 20 states and Union Territories to launch a special drive to bring voters who were left out of the electoral rolls back into the system.
The written direction was issued on September 29 and was reiterated during a video conference with all State Chief Electoral Officers on Thursday. The exercise will cover voters who were left out as well as young and first-time eligible voters.
The enrolment will be done through the regular process of continuous updation. In these 20 states and UTs, voters will use the statutory Form 6 for enrolment.
The latest move comes as the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls faces scrutiny following the deletion of around 13 crore names from draft rolls across 30 states and Union Territories.
ECI Asks States To Find Voters Left Out
The Commission has directed Chief Electoral Officers, District Election Officers and Electoral Registration Officers to compare the electoral rolls prepared before and after the SIR exercise. Officials have been asked to prepare lists of people whose names were deleted and identify those who may have been left out.
The instruction also calls for officials to visit homes, particularly in cases where voters were not mapped elsewhere, were not found to be duplicates and were not deceased. Such voters are to be helped with filling Form 6 so their names can be enrolled again.
The Commission has also asked state officials to seek help from political parties and their booth-level agents during the exercise.
The broad aim is to identify people who may have been unjustly left out and assist them in getting back on the electoral rolls.
Form 6 Question To Be Limited To SIR
The special drive also comes with a clarification on Form 6, the form used by new voters for enrolment.
During the SIR exercise, an additional question had been added to the online form. Applicants were asked whether they or their parents had been on the electoral roll after the last SIR.
This created a problem in cases such as an 18-year-old applicant whose parents had themselves been deleted from the electoral rolls. Such an applicant would not have a truthful way to answer the additional question.
Both Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had raised concerns about the change in May. Sandhu later described it as “unauthorised/illegal” in August.
The September 29 communication makes clear that this additional declaration is meant for the SIR phase. Outside the SIR, the forms prescribed under the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960 will be used.
Goa Shows The Problem With Deletions
The situation in Goa has also highlighted difficulties in restoring names after deletion.
According to the Indian express investigation, in the state, 97 voters who had been deleted at the draft stage submitted documents and were found eligible by their respective Electoral Registration Officers. However, the EROs later found that ECINet did not provide an option to reverse the deletions.
The Goa Chief Electoral Officer sent eight communications to the Commission over seven days regarding the issue. These were also copied to DG (IT) Seema Khanna.
According to the information in the investigation, the communications went unanswered and the final electoral roll was published without the 97 voters.
The latest special-drive instruction now gives states a process to identify people left out and assist them with Form 6.
Questions Over ECINet Also Raised
The issue of electoral-roll management has also led to concerns within the Election Commission.
An investigation published by The Indian Express on September 23 reported that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had objected on record 14 times over 10 months to decisions taken in the Commission’s name without their knowledge.
Their concerns included changes to Form 6 and the centralised control of ECINet, the software used to prepare electoral rolls during the SIR and to maintain them.
In May, Joshi described the situation as the “gradual centralisation of the electoral roll database” and sought an audit.
Sandhu also raised concerns on August 14 over the Goa situation, saying that responsibilities relating to electoral rolls were assigned by law to EROs, DEOs and CEOs. He also questioned the centralisation of access control by the DG (IT).
Commission Changes Hearing Process
The special drive follows a series of decisions taken by the Commission at its September 26 meeting.
The Commission decided that voters who had received notices for being “unmapped” or having “logical discrepancies” would not have to appear personally for hearings.
It also decided that a committee involving an independent IIT/IIIT expert would review ECINet. The Commission said further flexibility required by field officials would also be made operational in the software.
The September 29 letter communicated the hearing-related changes to states and was copied to the DG (IT) for necessary changes in ECINet.
Maharashtra Tells Officials Not To Exclude Voters In Haste
The issue is also playing out in Maharashtra, the largest state where the SIR is still under way.
Following Thursday’s meeting with state CEOs, the Maharashtra Chief Electoral Officer’s office issued instructions to officials handling Mumbai City and Mumbai Suburban.
ERO officials were told not to exclude voters in haste. Before removing a name, voters must be given enough opportunity to submit documents, a hearing must be held and the required order must be passed.
The state instructions also said that an eligible voter should not remain excluded from the electoral roll and that there should be no obstruction to the right to vote.
Officials were asked to ensure complete scrutiny at the ERO level and avoid taking negative decisions in haste.
For voters who have received notices for being “unmapped” or having “logical discrepancies”, the Maharashtra instructions follow the Commission’s September 26 decision.
Such voters will not have to appear personally. Booth Level Officers will collect documents from their homes and upload them for the ERO to decide.
Those who had already received hearing notices are to be informed by phone or WhatsApp that they do not need to appear.
With the special drive now ordered across 20 states and UTs, the focus shifts to identifying voters who may have fallen out of the rolls and helping eligible people complete the regular enrolment process.
