Maharashtra's draft electoral roll: safeguards for 'marked electors'
Election authorities in Maharashtra have directed electoral registration officers (EROs) to ensure that 'marked electors' are included in the draft electoral roll, to prevent any inadvertent deletion. The draft roll is scheduled to be published on August 31, as per The Times of India.
The directive, based on the Election Commission of India's instructions issued in May, provides for these electors to be retained in the draft roll and appropriately flagged in the electoral database. It covers members of the judiciary, public representatives, holders of declared public offices, and prominent personalities from fields including arts, culture, journalism, sports, and public services who have been identified as marked electors in the electoral database.
"Electoral registration officers have been told to check the names of marked electors. Only if they fall under the unmapped or logical discrepancy categories will further action be required," a senior election official said, as quoted by The Times of India.
The instruction assumes significance as 2.07 crore of Maharashtra's 9.8 crore electors were categorised as uncollectable at the end of the door-to-door Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise. Of the total electorate, 7.71 crore electors, or 78.9%, submitted their enumeration forms, while the remaining 21.1% were categorised as uncollectable.
According to the State CEO office figures reported by The Times of India, 75.5 lakh electors (7.72%) were categorised as absent/not found, 76.8 lakh (7.9%) as permanently shifted, 34.8 lakh (3.6%) as deceased, 17.6 lakh (1.8%) as already enrolled elsewhere or duplicate, and 2.23 lakh (0.23%) under the 'others' category. The uncollectable list was published four days before the close of the door-to-door exercise.
"These electors will not be included in the draft roll publication but that does not mean they do not have a chance. They can check and reapply if they are not there in the draft rolls," officials said, as quoted in the report. The directive also calls for prominent persons and their families in each assembly constituency to be appropriately identified as marked electors.
Claims and objections window
The claims and objections period runs from August 31 to September 30, during which electors can use Form 6 for inclusion, Form 8 for correction of entries, and Form 7 to object to deletion of an entry. New electors who attain the age of 18 on or before October 1, 2026, can apply through Form 6. Any person making a false declaration or statement while applying for inclusion, correction, or deletion of an electoral-roll entry is liable for punishment under Section 31 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950, which provides for imprisonment of up to one year, or fine, or both.
Under the revised SIR schedule, rationalisation or rearrangement of polling stations will be completed by Monday, followed by the publication of the draft roll on August 31. The claims and objections period will continue until September 30, while notices and disposal of claims and objections will run until October 29. The final electoral roll is scheduled to be published on November 4.
Telangana Congress panel raises concerns over SIR notices
In a related development in Telangana, members of the Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee Election Commission Co-ordination Committee raised several issues with the notices being served as part of the ongoing Special Intensive Revision of Electoral Rolls. The delegation, led by chairman Pulipati Rajesh Kumar and comprising SIR State Co-ordinator Gampa Venugopal and ECCC Member Wajid Hussain, met Chief Electoral Officer C. Sudharshan Reddy, as reported by The Hindu.
The delegation raised concerns that the insistence on personal appearance of the electors could lead to large-scale deletions. Electors are being asked to appear personally as per the memo issued by the CEO office, but many electors are aged, daily wage workers, students, women, and some are staying abroad or in other states owing to education or work-related commitments. They might not be able to appear personally at short notice, the representatives said, and requested that authorised family members be allowed to represent them.
The delegation brought to the CEO's notice the hardships faced by electors who are receiving notices merely 48 hours before the hearing. Principles of natural justice require a minimum notice of seven days so that the electors could prepare and produce the relevant documents, the representatives said, requesting Mr. Reddy to issue instructions accordingly.
They also said that Booth Level Officers who are issuing notices are not guiding the electors as to what specific proof needs to be carried in response to the reason mentioned in the notice. They urged the CEO to direct the BLOs to spell out the required documents as proof of age, identity, relative, or address. The delegation also requested the CEO to enable online submission of proof or documents along the lines of submission of Form 6/7/8, without the need to link to the Aadhaar e-sign, which they said would reduce the workload on the offices of the Electoral Registration Officers and make it easier for electors.
The CEO was also requested to mandate weekly meetings by all EROs with the recognised political parties and to maintain transparency regarding the notice period information. A statement from the Committee was issued following the meeting.