DMK urges EC to follow SC order on identify proof in Bihar SIR

In an order last week, Supreme Court had asked EC to consider Aadhaar, voters’ ID card and ration card as documents of proof during the SIR.

New Delhi: Supporting Supreme Court’s suggestions on Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar, DMK on Thursday urged the Election Commission to accept Aadhaar and “Family Card” issued by the state as documents of proof for date of birth and residence for any kind of voters’ list revision.

It also rued the lack of co-ordination between Booth Level Officers and Booth Level Agents, delay in striking off voters who are dead, not providing copies of handbooks to parties in vernacular languages as in the past and the confusion over counting of postal ballots.

The demand was raised by the DMK when a party delegation led by Rajya Sabha MP NR Elango met Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi.

Referring to the Supreme Court order in the Bihar SIR case, the party requested the EC to accept “Aadhaar card and the Family Card issued by the state”, as sufficient documents to prove the place of residence and the date of birth. A DMK functionary said by family card, the party has meant ration card.

“Almost all the eligible voters are in possession of these two documents or at least any one of them. Any revision in the electoral roll will be meaningful if these documents are added as relevant documents,” the memorandum signed by DMK Organisation Secretary RS Bharathi and submitted by the delegation said.

In an order last week in a petition filed by Opposition parties and others, the Supreme Court had asked the EC to consider Aadhaar, voters’ ID card and ration card as documents of proof during the SIR. The next hearing of the case is scheduled for July 28.

The party also found fault with the EC for not providing one set of handbooks in vernacular languages to all parties and contesting candidates as in the past and said such documents are available only in English or Hindi in the EC's website.

The DMK urged the EC to publish the handbooks and manuals in all official languages for the benefit of parties, candidates and voters. “The EC must also update the handbooks available on its website,” it said.

The delegation also raised concern over BLOs not taking measures to delete voters who are dead from the electoral rolls despite repeated representations from the DMK. It said the officers have always insisted on the production of death certificates and it has made the efforts of Booth Level Agents of parties to purify the rolls futile.

The DMK appreciated the EC move to obtain death registration data electronically from the Registrar General of India to clean up the rolls but said no steps have been taken to implement the decision though a notification was issued on May 1. “Unless deceased voters’ names are deleted, the purification of the electoral roll will never be complete,” the memorandum said.

It also wanted proper coordination between BLAs and BLOs while claiming that in Tamil Nadu, the officers are not sharing information with party agents.

On the change in the procedure of counting of votes, the DMK said no official notification has been issued and only guidelines have been issued for it. The party wanted the EC to revert to the past practice.

Earlier, the counting of postal votes will be taken up first and counting of EVMs start after a delay of 30 minutes. The counting of penultimate round of EVMs will not commence until completion of postal ballots.

However, it said the EC withdrew the condition of not counting the penultimate round of EVMs till postal ballots are fully counted.  

The commission's instruction for mandatory re-counting of all postal ballots papers on the ground that the margin of victory is less than the number of postal ballots has been revised to the effect that where the margin is less than the number of Postal Ballot rejected as invalid at the time of counting, all the rejected Postal Ballot papers shall be mandatorily re-verified by the Returning officer before declaration of result, it said.

"This change in procedure has not been notified through any notification, nor have the rules been amended to this effect. By merely changing the guidelines, the existing rules and notifications cannot be amended. The...guideline is causing us considerable confusion. We suggest that, increasing the number of counting tables for postal ballots will address the concern of ECI. Certainly, the guideline...will not be in furtherance of free and fair elections," it said. 

"Therefore, we request you to revert to the previous procedure of withholding the counting of the penultimate round of EVMs until the declaration of the result of postal ballots," the DMK added.