What has the ECI directed?
The ECI has asked the CEOs, District Election Officers and Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) in states and UTs where SIR has already been completed to conduct a special drive for the enrolment of “left out and young/first time eligible electors” through the process of continuous updation.
The exercise will use Form 6 without the question added in July. The online Form 6 had begun asking applicants whether they, or their parents, were on the voters’ list after the last SIR, and would not allow them to submit the form without answering the question. The form could be changed only by the government through an amendment to the rules, with Election Commissioner Sukhbir Singh Sandhu describing the change as “unauthorised/illegal”.
ECI asks states to compare pre- and post-SIR rolls
The ECI has separately instructed the states to compare the electoral rolls prepared before SIR with those prepared after the exercise. The states have been asked to draw up a list of voters whose names were deleted and identify anyone who may have been left out. For this exercise, the CEOs have been asked to seek assistance from political parties or their booth-level agents.
Maharashtra asks officials not to exclude voters in haste
According to The Indian Express report, after the ECI’s meeting with all state CEOs on Thursday, Maharashtra, where the SIR exercise is still under way instructed its Electoral Registration Officers not to exclude voters in haste.
A note issued by the Chief Electoral Officer’s office on Thursday to officials handling Mumbai City and Mumbai Suburban states reads: “Before taking a decision to exclude the name of the said voter from the electoral roll, sufficient opportunity should be given to the concerned voter to submit the necessary documents, a hearing should be held and the necessary order should be passed.” The note further states that “an eligible voter should not remain excluded from the electoral roll and there should be no obstruction to the voter’s right to vote”.
EROs have been instructed not to take a negative decision in haste and to ensure complete scrutiny. The Maharashtra note also gives effect to the Commission’s September 26 decision concerning voters who have received notices for being “unmapped” or for having “logical discrepancies”. Under the decision, such voters do not need to appear in person for hearings.
The note also provides an additional safeguard for cases that remain unresolved after the BLO’s visit. In such cases, voters will get another opportunity to submit documents, followed by a hearing and an order, before their names are removed from the electoral roll.
