Aim to ensure no eligible voter left out, no ineligible voter in list: CEC amid Opp heat

The EC also underlined that as per its instructions issued on June 24, any person whose name was not in the 2003 electoral roll could still submit an extract of that electoral roll as proof for their mother or father, instead of submitting any other document.

According to the EC’s order, those who were not on the rolls in 2003 — the last time that an intensive revision was done in Bihar — would have to submit proof of date and/ or place of birth of themselves if born before July 1, 1987; proof of date and/ or place of birth of themselves and one parent if born between July 1, 1987 and December 2, 2004; proof of date and/ or place of birth of themselves and both parents if born after December 2, 2004.

These categories are as per the citizenship requirements in the Citizenship Act, 1955, EC sources had said.

“Further, as per instructions, anyone whose name is not in the 2003 Bihar electoral roll can still use the extract of 2003 electoral roll rather than providing any other documents for his/ her mother or father. In such cases, no other document would be required for his/ her mother or father. Only the relevant extract/ details of the 2003 electoral roll would be sufficient. Such electors would have to submit the documents only for themselves, along with the filled-up enumeration form,” the EC reiterated Monday.

On Saturday, the EC had said that of the total 7.89 crore electors, 4.96 crore who were on the rolls as on January 1, 2003 would only have to submit the new enumeration form. This means that the remaining 2.93 crore, or about 37% of the electors, would have to submit documents establishing citizenship in addition to the form.

“The objective of the special intensive revision is to ensure that no eligible voter is left out, and, at the same time, no ineligible voter is included in the electoral rolIs. More than 1 lakh volunteers have also been deployed to assist the elderly, sick, persons with disabilities (PwD) and marginalised groups in filling up their enumeration forms,” CEC Gyanesh Kumar said on Monday.

“The Election Commission of India has uploaded the 2003 electoral roll of Bihar, comprising details of 4.96 crore electors, on the ECI website… The ease of availability of 2003 electoral rolls of Bihar, would hugely facilitate the ongoing special intensive revision in Bihar as now nearly 60 per cent of the total electorate, would not have to submit any documents. They have to just verify their details from the 2003 electoral rolls… and submit the filled-up enumeration form. Both the electors as well the BLOs (booth level officers) would be able to readily access these details,” the EC said in a statement.

The EC said the revision of the electoral rolls was mandatory before every election, as per Section 21(2)(a) of the Representation of People Act 1950, and Rule 25 of the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960. “ECI has been conducting annual revisions, intensive as well as summary, for 75 years by now. This exercise is required as the electoral roll is always a dynamic list which keeps changing due to deaths, shifting of people due to various reasons such as migration due to occupation/ education/ marriage, addition of new voters who have turned 18 etc. Further, Article 326 of the Constitution specifies the eligibility to become an elector. Only Indian citizens, above 18 years and ordinary residents in that constituency, are eligible to be registered as an elector,” the EC said.

While the EC has started the process of revising the electoral rolls in Bihar, where elections are due in November, the exercise will be expanded to other states too.