MINISTER OF THE STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF LAW AND JUSTICE (DR. M. VEERAPPA MOILY)
(a) to (c): The Representation of People Act, 1950 and the rules made thereunder provide adequate provisions
for registration of name, Correction of name in electoral rolls and for preferring appeal against wrongful
deletion of any name or wrongful entry of any particulars in the electoral rolls or non-inclusion of any
name. As per the information furnished by the Election Commission a few instances came to its notice where
duplicate entries of voters in the rolls as well as entry of in-eligible persons as voters on the roll has
been made.
The Election Commission of India has intimated that it has received complaints in the last 2 years
about duplicate entries of voters in the rolls as well as entry of ineligible persons as voters on
the roll from the States of Andhra Pradesh (6), Arunachal Pradesh (I), Gujarat (I), Karnataka (2),
Kerala (1), Maharashtra (2), Puducherry (1) and Tripura (5), wherein allegations were made that
the bogus/ineligible names have been included in the Electoral Rolls.
(d) The complaints were sent to the Chief Electoral Officers for enquiry and report. On enquiry it was found
that mostly the complaints related to duplicate entries or continuance of persons on roll who have since
shifted or are dead. In the complaint in respect of Kerala state, it was found on enquiry that about 114
persons, who were allegedly residents of other districts, had got their names enrolled in the electoral
roll of neighbouring district where a bye-election was scheduled. The names of all the 114 persons were
deleted from the electoral roll and disciplinary action had been initiated against 3 Village Officers
and 2 Municipal Secretaries. The complaint relating to the state of Gujarat was received in the
Commission on the 24,6.2010 and the Commission decided to send 4 teams to Gandhinagar, Ahmadabad
and Vadodara for on-the-spot verification of complaint.
(e) The Election Commission has taken several measures to remove the duplicate/
multiple entries and names of dead persons from the electoral rolls.
(i) The electoral rolls have (since 2008) been converted into photo electoral roll. Presence
of the photograph of elector has become a major deterrence for `bogus` enrolment.
(ii) Annual revision of roll is undertaken including in some cases, intensive door-to-door verification
of electors to improve the health of electoral rolls.
(iii) The draft of the electoral rolls are now being furnished to the Gram Sabhas, RWAs, local
authorities, NGOs, etc., apart from the recognized political parties to point out any omission
or commission before finalizing the rolls. The names of electors are being read out in the meetings
of the Gram Sabhas, RWAs, etc. and they are now assisting the electoral registration authorities in
getting the names deleted of those persons who are no longer residing in their areas or those who
have died.
(iv) The authorities concerned with the registration of births and deaths have also been directed to furnish
lists of dead persons to the electoral registration authorities twice in a year - January and July.
(v) The Computer technology is also being used extensively and intensively to identify and weed out the
duplicate/ multiple entries.
(vi) The draft rolls are displayed at a large number of designated locations very near the localities
concerned enabling the residents to scrutinize those rolls and file claims and objections at those
designated locations themselves. Special campaign drives are also carried out at a large number of
designated locations on specified days, which are normally holidays for the general public. Apart
from the other designated locations, the post offices in municipal areas of Hyderabad were used as
designated locations and the assistance of the postal authorities was taken for displaying the rolls,
receiving claims and objections and even for the local verification of those claims and objections.
(vii) Booth Level Officers have been appointed for each part of electoral roll, who are mostly Govt.
servants and reside in the same locality for assisting the electors to get their names enrolled and
at the same time, BLOs provide information regarding dead/shifted voters so that names of ineligible
voters are removed by the ERO by following due procedure of law.
(viii) Besides, each recognised national and State party has been authorised to appoint a BLA for each
polling station (part of electoral roll). They can report to the BLO about the veracity of the names in
the electoral roll of their respective polling stations for remedial action.
(ix) Apart from this, the electoral rolls are now available on website of each State/Union Territory for
general information of public for corrections/additions/deletions.
