Booth level officials on electoral revision duty are literally on a wild-goose chase.

After being rapped by the Central Election Commission (CEC) recently for ‘messing up’ the voters’ list, the State Electoral Office has, in turn, directed all booth-level officials get all ‘citizens’ who have been newly-added to the voters’ list and get a filled-in form 6 and address proof from them.

 “The officials are finding it a daunting task and are sceptical about achieving it,” sources told Deccan Herald.
Lakhs of fresh names were added to the voters’ list across the State following a general survey done recently. But the Form 6 was not collected, as booth-level officials were not instructed to do so. They merely came up with names to be added to the voters’ list.

Deletion
“Now the State Electoral Office wants them to be thoroughly verified. If booth level officials fail to get form 6 filled, those names will be deleted suo motu,” sources said.

It is mandatory for every person to fill in Form 6 to register as a voter. Besides, the State Electoral Office has powers to take up suo motu deletion of names in the voters’ list.

For instance, in Bangalore urban district, 2.5 lakh fresh names were included in the voters’ list after the survey. Now officials are again on the lookout for 2.5 lakh fresh voters.

 “How can we search for people we met during the general survey? Of the 2.5 lakh, we may find just around 80,000,” one of the booth level officials said.

Deletion
This, in other words, means that there is every possibility of the names of several genuine and eligible voters getting deleted in the process.

“This shows the sheer desperation of the State Electoral Office. As it is under intense pressure from Central Election Commission, it is going berserk, going as far as deleting names in the voters’ list. It just wants to show the results and bring down the number of voters,” officials involved in the revision exercise complained.

This deletion of names will be over and above the 34 lakh names that have been  already deleted, as per the directions from the Central Election Commission.

‘COOPERATION NEEDED’

Our motto is to see that every eligible person is in the rolls and ineligible names are deleted. What we expect from citizens is that any body who is not enrolled to the voters’ list so far, to get registered now by filling in the form 6, which are available at local ward offices.  If your name has to be deleted in case you have changed your residential address, provide details about the new address in form 6. Simultaneously, get the name deleted in your old area. If a tenant has moved, owners should inform the administration about it, so that the names of the tenants can be deleted in the voters’ list. Active role of citizens is most important in preparing clear and error-free rolls.
- R Ramasheshan, Chief Electoral Officer

I agree it is a difficult task to catch hold of the same people and get form 6 filled from them. But our officials are doing it well. We have directed booth level officials to get form 6 filled from any of the relative at least, if not same person. We will do our best to prepare error-free voters’ list.

- B S Ramaprasad, Bangalore Urban District Electoral Officer