With only nine days left before the claims and objections window of the Election Commission of India (ECI) shuts, the poll body has said on Saturday that it received 99,656 applications of voters from Bihar asking for either addition or deletion of names in the draft electoral rolls. But political parties have so far made only nine objections.
Out of the total individual applications received, 7,367 have already been dealt with by the Electoral Registration Officers (EROs). The claims and objections period, which started from August 1, will run until September 1.
The Commission pointed out that the CPI(ML) Liberation alone raised objections and filed nine complaints regarding the draft rolls. Although they have been repeatedly appealed to, other political parties have remained away from actively engaging in the process of revision largely.
Since the start of the period on August 1, a total of 2,83,042 newly eligible voters, who turned 18 after the launch of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR), have applied for inclusion in the rolls.
The ECI stated categorically that a window of one month has been made available to people, political parties, and 1.6 lakh booth-level agents (BLAs) to raise mistakes. Of these, the RJD has utilized 47,506 BLAs, Congress 17,549, and Left parties over 2,000, in all covering more than 67,000 representatives.
Rules state that claims and objections will be dealt with only after a seven-day notice period and eligibility verification by the respective ERO or AERO. None of the names included in the draft rolls announced on August 1 can be deleted without serving a formal "speaking order" after an enquiry and providing the affected elector a reasonable chance to reply.
The list of names dropped from the draft rolls, together with their reasons, is provided online on the District Election Officers' (DEOs), District Magistrates' (DMs), and the Chief Electoral Officer's (CEO) web pages searchable by EPIC number. Such persons who are aggrieved may file claims along with documents in support thereof, including a copy of their Aadhaar card.
The Commission again emphasized that correct electoral rolls are the backbone of a robust democracy. "Electoral rolls for each polling station are compiled strictly as per law," it stated.
The SIR in Bihar commenced on June 24, taking into account enumeration forms gathered during field-level verification by BLOs and political party BLAs. Draft rolls were released on August 1 and disseminated among all 12 political parties recognized in the state.
The ECI has called upon those eligible voters who do not see their names on the rolls to submit claims in Form 6 through Aadhaar by September 1. Similarly, objections to ineligible entries can be submitted through Form 7. Even non-electors within a constituency can present objections, as long as they accompany it with the necessary declaration or affirmation, according to the regulations.
