Poll Body Begins Electoral Roll Revision In Manipur, Final List By September

The Election Commission of India (ECI) has initiated a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the Electoral Roll in Manipur, with July 1 as the qualifying date aimed at ensuring that no eligible citizen is left out of the electoral roll and no ineligible person is included.

Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of Manipur, Arun Kumar Sinha, stated that all preparatory activities for the revision exercise, including training of election officials and printing of enumeration forms, have been completed. He further assured that no elector would be deleted from the electoral roll without being given an opportunity to be heard during the verification process.

As part of the preparations, a meeting with recognised political parties at the state level was held on May 16 at the conference hall of the Chief Electoral Officer's office in Lamphelpat. During the meeting, the process of the SIR was explained in detail and political parties were requested to appoint Booth Level Agents (BLAs) to work closely with Booth Level Officers (BLOs) during the enumeration phase. 

Similar meetings were also conducted at district and Assembly Constituency levels by the concerned election authorities.

Training programmes have been imparted to all 16 District Election Officers (DEOs), 60 Electoral Registration Officers (EROs), 81 Assistant Electoral Registration Officers (AEROs) and election staff. Cascaded training has also been provided to BLO Supervisors and Booth Level Officers across the state, while special orientation programmes were organised for Booth Level Agents. Help desks have been established in all 16 districts to assist electors in locating previous SIR records and filling up enumeration forms.

According to the CEO, enumeration forms for 20,93,076 existing electors in the state have already been printed.

In the second phase of the exercise, 2,956 Booth Level Officers will conduct a house-to-house drive to distribute partially filled enumeration forms in duplicate to all existing electors. Electors have been requested to provide details relating to the last SIR for themselves or their relatives and return one copy of the completed form to the BLO while retaining the acknowledged copy for their records. No supporting documents will be collected during the enumeration phase.

The CEO said electors can also download enumeration forms and upload completed forms online through the Election Commission's voter portal and the ECINet mobile application.

To facilitate the exercise, an online search facility has been made available to help electors retrieve details from the last SIR records. The information can be accessed through the Election Commission's voter portal as well as the official website of the Chief Electoral Officer, Manipur. Printed copies of the electoral rolls from the last SIR conducted in 2005 are also available with Booth Level Officers to assist voters. Electors may additionally seek assistance through the toll-free Voter Helpline Number 1950 or by using the "Book a Call with BLO" facility available on the voter portal and ECINet application.

For electors whose enumeration forms are not returned, BLOs will ascertain the probable reasons, such as Absent, Shifted, Death or Duplicate (ASDD), through local inquiry. Lists containing such cases will be displayed on the notice boards of the Electoral Registration Officers and made available on the CEO's website to ensure transparency.

The Draft Electoral Roll will be published on July 5 and will include every elector whose enumeration form has been received. Electors whose forms are not submitted within the stipulated period may still apply for inclusion by filing Form 6 along with the prescribed declaration during the claims and objections period.

During the notice and verification phase from July 5 to September 2, Electoral Registration Officers will scrutinise the eligibility of electors and issue notices wherever discrepancies are found or where names cannot be linked with records from previous SIR exercises.

The final Electoral Roll will be published on September 6 after all claims and objections have been duly considered and disposed of.

The CEO further informed that electors aggrieved by any decision of the Electoral Registration Officer may file an appeal before the District Magistrate under Section 24(a) of the Representation of the People Act, 1950, and a second appeal before the Chief Electoral Officer under Section 24(b) in accordance with the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960.

Describing the Special Intensive Revision as a participatory exercise involving electors, political parties and election officials, Arun Kumar Sinha appealed to all stakeholders, particularly recognised political parties, to ensure active participation of Booth Level Agents so that the revision process is carried out with complete transparency and broad public participation.