Election Commission's Special Drive To Enrol Left-Out Voters Where SIR Is Over

The Election Commission has directed election authorities in 20 states and Union Territories where the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls has been completed to undertake special drives to enrol eligible voters whose names were left out, along with young and first-time electors.

"Special drives shall be undertaken by the District Election Officers (DEOs) & Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) for the enrolment of left out and young/first time eligible electors under the process of continuous updation," CEO West Bengal said in a post on X.

The directive comes amid the removal of around 13 crore names from draft electoral rolls across states and Union Territories during SIR. The figure refers to deletions from the draft rolls and does not mean that all those removed were eligible voters wrongly excluded.

"SIR has already been completed in 20 States/UTs including Bihar and West Bengal. Any person whose name has got left out during SIR or thereafter, and any person including young/ first-time voter, may apply to the concerned ERO, for inclusion of their names in the electoral rolls under the process of continuous updation. CEOs have been directed to facilitate the same. The CEOs, DEOs, EROs will immediately launch a special drive for enrolment of these electors," the poll body said in a press note issued on September 26.

The special drives will allow eligible electors left out during or after SIR to apply for inclusion through the continuous updation process using Form 6. District election authorities have been asked to facilitate enrolment, including through field-level assistance.

The Booth Level Officers, or BLOs, will make house-to-house visits to identify such voters and determine their present status and facilitate enrolment through Form 6, wherever the person is found to be eligible, the poll body said. 

The officers will cover at least 20-25 electors in a week so as to complete this exercise within a period of about one month. 

"They shall also indicate the present status of each such elector in the list prepared by them. The electors for whom Form 6 has been filled up will also be indicated. BLOs will also ensure filling up of Form 6 for enrolment of any left out/first time/young electors during their house to house visits," the poll body said.

Goa has drawn attention to the challenges involved in addressing omissions after the revision.

READ | 'Many Added': Goa Electoral Officer On 97 Electors Not Being Included In Rolls

The Indian Express had reported that voters had been flagged for "logical discrepancies" in Goa and given an opportunity to submit documents and objections to be included in the electoral rolls. Of these, 649 electors had come forward and their cases were examined by Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) and Assistant EROs.

After going through the cases, the officials found 97 eligible for inclusion. According to the report, the Goa Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) sent eight communications between February 11 and 17 seeking a facility to reverse the decision and allow the inclusion of the names. This did not happen, however, and the final electoral roll published on February 21 did not have the 97 voters. 

The non-inclusion of the voters raised questions about the centralisation of voter lists, which was also brought up by Election Commissioners Vivek Joshi and Sukhbir Singh Sandhu in their dissent note, according to the Express report. 

Of the 97 cases flagged in the coastal state, six people are abroad and three are Portuguese passport holders, while 88 have been enrolled, according to the figures provided by CEO of Goa. The cases have highlighted the need to distinguish between eligible voters who were inadvertently left out and those whose circumstances require separate verification.

The Election Commission has said that Goa's Chief Electoral Officer directed booth-level officers (BLOs) to visit the homes of voters whose names were left out and collect their enrolment forms.

"The special drives are intended to ensure that eligible citizens, including young and first-time voters, have an opportunity to seek inclusion after SIR. Their implementation will depend on the ability of electoral authorities to identify omissions, assist applicants and process enrolment requests under the prescribed rules," a person familiar with the matter said.