EC eases rules on Bihar voter list revision; can give papers later, says CEO
In an advertisement carried in newspapers in Hindi, the office of the Bihar CEO says: 'Fill and submit your enumeration forms with documents and your photograph to BLOs as early as possible. If you do not have requisite documents, send the filled-out, signed forms to the BLOs.'
While the Election Commission (EC) has not issued any fresh order, the Bihar CEO's move is being taken as an attempt to allay panic among people, given that the deadline for the final form submission is just two weeks away (July 26).
In instructions to District Magistrates (DMs), the office of the CEO says, 'All DMs, collect forms without documents; also ensure maximum forms are collected so that we can ensure maximum number of voters on draft publication …. Documents can be collected afterwards …. and uploaded through BLO dashboard (being developed ) …. Documents can be collected later and uploaded afterwards…. Jo bhi forms baante hai bas enumeration forms filled upload kariye abhi with signature (for now, just upload the filled-out enumeration forms with signature) …. BLOs already know 90% of their voters, Apart from those who have passed away and permanent migration, upload all forms.'
A BLO in a village in Banka district confirmed that these instructions had been issued. 'Yes, we are told to accept both kinds of forms, with or without documents. There is panic not just among people but among us. I have over 1,300 enumeration forms to submit with a few sacks of documents that need to be scanned. It does not look possible to complete it by July 26. We are praying for an extension of deadline.'
He said the exercise was similar to the house-to-house survey conducted three years ago, in which they had been asked to avoid duplicating names and ensure that those who had passed away were not included in the electoral rolls.
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The Hindu
an hour ago
- The Hindu
Why are Bihar's electoral rolls being revised?
The story so far: The Election Commission of India (EC) has initiated a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls in Bihar before the general elections for its Legislative Assembly. What is an electoral roll? Article 324 of the Constitution provides that the superintendence, direction and control of the preparation of electoral rolls for the conduct of elections to Parliament and State legislature shall vest with the EC. Article 326 provides that every citizen who is not less than 18 years of age shall be entitled to be registered as a voter (elector). The electoral rolls are prepared by the EC as per the provisions of the Representation of the People Act, 1950 (RP Act). Section 16 of the RP Act disqualifies a non-citizen from being enrolled in the electoral roll. Section 19 requires that the person is not less than 18 years of age on the qualifying date and is ordinarily resident in the constituency. Section 20 of the RP Act provides the meaning of the term 'ordinarily resident'. It specifies that a person shall not be deemed to be 'ordinarily resident' in a constituency simply because he/she owns or possesses a dwelling house in such constituency. However, at the same time, a person 'temporarily absent' from his/her place of residence shall continue to be 'ordinarily resident' therein. Why has an SIR been initiated? Section 21 of the RP Act deals with the preparation and revision of electoral rolls. It authorises the EC to carry out a special revision of the electoral roll at any time for reasons to be recorded. The Election Commission has noted that there have been large scale additions and deletions to the electoral rolls over the last 20 years due to rapid urbanisation and migration. This has increased the possibility of duplicate entries in the roll. The Commission is constitutionally obligated to ensure that only citizens are enrolled in the electoral rolls. 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The schedule for the current SIR is provided in Table 1. What are the pros and cons? There have been arguments for and against the SIR made by various stakeholders. The key issues of contention are summarised below. The process and time required for the entire exercise: Proponents in support of the SIR in its present form argue that the SIR in 2003 was carried out in 31 days without technological support. This time also the same amount of time will be taken for the exercise with technology. Moreover, there are more than one lakh BLOs, nearly 4 lakh volunteers and more than 1.5 lakh Booth Level Agents (BLAs), appointed by political parties, to ensure the smooth implementation of this exercise. Counter arguments against the SIR in its present form state that it is a humungous task which involves the submission of forms by all eight crore voters that has never been done before. 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