Una, September 28:- The Election Commission of India has issued important guidelines under the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process to make the voter list more transparent, accurate and updated, while also ensuring convenience for citizens. Under these guidelines, citizens who receive notices due to being unmapped or because of logical discrepancies will not have to make rounds of election offices to submit documents. The concerned Booth Level Officers (BLOs) will themselves visit the homes of voters to collect the required documents and upload them on the ECINet portal.
District Election Officer and Deputy Commissioner Una Jatin Lal said that this arrangement has been made by giving priority to the convenience of citizens during the SIR process. He said that necessary assistance will be provided at the BLO level to save voters from unnecessary inconvenience and to make the revision process simple and convenient.
Priority to Be Given to Online Hearings
The Deputy Commissioner said that hearings will be conducted only in exceptional circumstances, as per the decision of the ERO. Even in such a situation, priority will be given to hearings through online mode so that citizens do not have to unnecessarily appear at offices.
He said that if a voter is unable to appear personally for the hearing, he or she can authorize any adult member of the family to appear on their behalf. This will provide convenience especially to elderly persons, unwell persons and other voters in need.
Special Arrangement for Deprived and Homeless Sections
The Deputy Commissioner said that special camps will be organized along with setting up sufficient numbers of help desks according to the convenience of people living in night shelters, workers, poor and homeless persons, to include them in the voter list. He directed the concerned officers to ensure that no eligible citizen is deprived of the right to get their name registered in the voter list.
He said that the declaration form attached with Form-6 for the SIR process has been upheld as valid by the Hon’ble Supreme Court. Meanwhile, during the non-SIR period, the relevant form prescribed under the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960, will be used.
Special Emphasis on Enrolment of Left-Out and Newly Eligible Voters
The Deputy Commissioner said that the SIR process has been completed in 20 states, including Bihar and West Bengal. He said that eligible citizens whose names have been left out of the voter list or young people who are eligible to become voters for the first time can apply before the concerned Electoral Registration Officer (ERO) under ‘Continuous Updation’.
He directed all Electoral Registration Officers, Assistant Electoral Registration Officers, Supervisors and BLOs to ensure effective compliance with the guidelines of the Election Commission of India. He also directed them to immediately launch special campaigns in their respective Assembly constituencies for 100 per cent enrolment of eligible voters who have been left out and newly eligible young voters.
The Deputy Commissioner said that strengthening the voter list is an important step towards further strengthening the democratic system. He also appealed to eligible citizens to ensure that their names are included in the voter list and, if required, apply under the prescribed procedure to ensure their participation in the democratic process.
