Hard copies may go as EC looks to simplify electoral roll revision

May 29, 2018 12:31 am | Updated 12:31 am IST - Bengaluru

At present, a voter can apply online by uploading soft copies of documents. The hard copies need to be submitted to the booth-level officer.

At present, a voter can apply online by uploading soft copies of documents. The hard copies need to be submitted to the booth-level officer.

With several complaints of duplication of names and usage of improper verification methods during electoral roll revisions, especially in Bengaluru, the Election Commission is likely to bring in reforms to allow people to register as voters more easily. In the process, it is likely to do away with the need to provide hard copies of documents to the booth-level officer (BLO), who is often accused of playing truant, which in turn would result in rejection of the application.

At present, a voter can apply online by uploading soft copies of the supporting documents. The hard copies need to be submitted to the BLO. Several residents’ welfare associations in Bengaluru have accused BLOs of never turning up to collect the hard copies. In fact, they have said that even if they submit the copies at the BBMP office, it is not acknowledged, which would eventually lead to rejection of the application on the grounds that the hard copies were not submitted. Whitefield Rising had brought up this issue before the Election Commission when the summary revision of rolls was being undertaken.

“We are in the process of introducing changes. The BLO will only have to come and verify [the voters]. We hope this will improve the process,” Chief Electoral Officer Sanjiv Kumar told The Hindu recently. “Verification is generally a problem [in Bengaluru]. Door-to-door survey has been a problem as many multi-storeyed housing complexes do not allow officials to enter.”

Voting percentage

In fact, experts believe that the low percentage of voting — more than 15% lower than the State average — in Bengaluru may not be true because of the anomalies in the electoral rolls, including duplication of names and non-deletion of names of those who are dead and have migrated. Incidentally, Bengaluru has over 90 lakh voters.

Mr. Kumar said: “These problems are generally in urban local bodies. They (BLOs) may not be on the ground. Someone may be nominated because they have too many functions to perform. For the next elections (2019 Lok Sabha polls), we will start working on removing the anomalies in June itself.”

As part of improving the quality of electoral rolls, he said that more non-governmental organisations would be identified and involved in a big way to ensure 100% checking from door to door. “The cleaning of electoral rolls will be for a longer period and human resources will be mobilised early,” he said.

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