Kerala Chief Electoral Officer Dr Rathan U Kelkar
Credit: Facebook/Chief Electoral Officer Kerala
New Delhi: People and parties want an error-free voter list but they might not have thought that the pursuit of this goal through Special Intensive Revision (SIR) could be "a bit cumbersome than expected" compared to other electoral roll revision exercises though efforts have been taken to make it easier for them, Kerala Chief Electoral Officer Dr Rathan U Kelkar has said.
Though hearing notices have been issued to around 19.5 lakh of 2.54 crore voters who found their name in the draft rolls in Kerala, he told DH, all of them may not have to appear before officials if the "errors" in enumeration forms are minor in nature and can be rectified without their appearance.
He said parties are also actively supporting the entire SIR activity, with Booth Level Agents going to the houses and helping voters to get documents to ensure that new voters are enrolled ahead of Assembly elections. The parties are also asking the EC to hold more camps to enroll new voters, he said.
With allegations being thrown at electoral rolls after Lok Sabha elections, Kelkar said, "people, parties and media, all, wanted a pure electoral roll, which is free from all defects. The SIR is a way in which we can actually sanitise the electoral rolls. The process that is being followed is more intensive than otherwise which has happened earlier on."
Referring to some objections raised to the SIR exercise, he said, "probably people did not have an idea that this would be a little bit more cumbersome than normal." On the exercise in Kerala, he said only those who could not link their names with the 2002 voter list faced some trouble in the form of receiving notices.
He said the if the mapping was done properly, no voter would have been called and now they may have to appear to provide proof because of the everybody has to follow.
Kelkar, who had to appear before an election official as he could not link his name to the 2002 list, said, "now as a responsible citizen, if you really want pure electoral role, the only inconvenience if at all would be there to go before a AERO on a particular day. Even that day is not convenient to you, they will give you another day. As per your convenience, go there and it takes only three minutes."
He said voters in Kerala would not face any trouble in getting documents needed to prove their eligibility even in interior tribal hamlets, as almost all people in the state have three or four records identified by the Election Commission.
Many of them who get notices may not even need to appear before the officials, if the concerned election official is convinced that there is no need for further verification in instances like spelling mistakes, he said.
"Anybody getting a notice does not mean that they will be thrown out. As per the rules, generate the hearing notice when a discrepancy is flagged. Once the notice is generated, the Electoral Registration Officer or Assistant ERO can decide whether to insist on a physical appearance. If it is a very simple thing like correcting a small error or the BLO vouches for authenticity or if the ERO finds that the BLO has made a wrong entry, they can rectify it and decide whether to call voters in person," he said.