Absence of booth agents posing problem

Meena says repeated requests to political parties have gone unheeded

Recent complaints about ‘duplicate voters’ in the Vattiyurkavu Assembly constituency have turned the spotlight on a problem faced by election officials: The reluctance shown by political parties to appoint booth level agents (BLAs) to help prepare error-free electoral rolls.

With the revision of rolls set to begin in November, Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), Kerala, Teeka Ram Meena is planning to impress upon recognised political parties the need to appoint BLAs. Repeated requests in this regard made during the past one year have largely gone unheeded, according to Mr. Meena.

“Revising the electoral rolls is the job of booth level officers (BLOs) and Electoral Registration Officers (EROs). BLAs, being local-level party workers, are needed to help the officers remove the names of the deceased, double entries (duplicate voters) and ensure that eligible voters are not left out,” Mr. Meena said.

BLAs can help rectify errors at the outset, thereby enabling the commission to avoid a flurry of complaints at a later stage when corrections become difficult, he said.

Ahead of the October 21 bypolls, Congress MP K. Muraleedharan had alleged that the electoral rolls for Vattiyurkavu contained 15,000 'duplicate voters' (double entries). Verification by election officials had revealed approximately 270 double entries in the category of absent, shifted or dead (ASD) in the constituency.

The Election Commission introduced the concept of BLAs to enhance the role of political parties in the preparation/revision of voters’ lists. In a nutshell, BLAs are meant to complement BLOs at the polling station level. Ideally, recognised political parties should appoint BLAs for each of the approximately 25,000 polling stations in the State. The CEO as well as the District Election Officers (DEO) and BLOs concerned should be apprised of the appointments.

“Preparation of the voters’ list is not a unilateral exercise involving the officials alone. It has to be done with the participation of political parties. BLAs are also necessary to point out lapses, if any, on the part of BLOs. They, in fact, are part of the checks and balances in the system,” Mr. Meena said.

The Election Commission plans to open the revision of electoral rolls in the State by November 25. The final list will be published in January 2020.