New Delhi: Facing allegations of disenfranchising crores of voters, the Election Commission on Friday gave a fresh chance to electors of seven states who were marked as Absent, Shifted, Dead and Duplicate (ASDD), and whose names could not be included in the draft rolls during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise.
In a letter, the EC directed the chief electoral officers of Delhi, Maharashtra, Haryana, Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand, Telangana and Nagaland to facilitate the inclusion of such electors in the final electoral rolls.
The decision covers electors who were issued enumeration forms but whose forms were not received back, resulting in their exclusion from the draft rolls.
The opposition has accused the EC of deleting the names of crores of eligible citizens from the electoral rolls at the behest of the BJP. The poll authority has defended the revision, citing its validation by the Supreme Court.
As part of the exercise to include those left out, booth-wise lists of such electors, along with probable reasons for their exclusion, will be displayed at polling stations and designated local government offices. The lists will also be uploaded on the websites of the respective Chief Electoral Officers.
The commission has directed officials to provide fresh enumeration forms to these electors and make all possible efforts to contact them through Booth Level Officers (BLOs), including house-to-house visits, WhatsApp, e-mail and SMS.
Electors who have not shifted residence can submit their duly filled enumeration forms along with a statement explaining why they could not submit them earlier.
Those who have shifted within the state need not file Form-8 for a change of address but must submit the enumeration form along with a statement mentioning their new address and assembly constituency, supported by address proof.
In the case of homeless electors who do not possess address documents, the BLO’s field verification report will be accepted as proof of residence.
The EC said applications would be scrutinised by Electoral Registration Officers under Rule 21(1) of the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960.
Accepted applications will be kept separately for inclusion in the final electoral roll, with the electors retaining their previous EPIC numbers.
Electors who have already submitted Form-6 for fresh enrolment during the SIR will not be required to submit the Enumeration Form again.
