New Delhi, Sep 22 (PTI) Booth-level officers (BLOs) in parts of New Delhi district have begun house-to-house visits to collect documents from those issued notices over “discrepancies” in electoral records, saving them the hassle of travelling to the election office.
The BLOs are delivering notices, explaining what documents are required and, in some cases, collecting the papers from voters and submitting them to the concerned election office themselves.
The exercise is aimed to facilitate voters who may find it difficult to visit offices of electoral registration officers (EROs) during working hours.
At Sujan Singh Park, residents said BLOs had visited their homes after notices were issued members of their household and collected the required documents, adding that BLOs would submit the documents at the respective election office, saving them the trip.
The exercise comes amid heightened scrutiny after a large number of electors were issued notices during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Delhi, including several prominent names from politics, judiciary, bureaucracy, academia and public life.
The office of the Delhi chief electoral officer (CEO) office on Tuesday reiterated that issuance of notice does not imply deletion of name from the electoral roll, and said voters would be given every opportunity to submit supporting documents.
“No name will be deleted from the draft electoral roll without following due process. The concerned person will be given an opportunity to present their case and to appeal. The deadline for disposal of notices is October 29 and, as per the prescribed schedule, the final electoral roll will be published,” the CEO said in a statement.
Poll officials said house-to-house visits by BLOs would also be scheduled in other constituencies wherever required, depending on the nature of discrepancies and the need for assistance at the local level.
The list of electors issued notices has been uploaded on the website of the Delhi CEO.
More than 97 lakh electors figure in the draft electoral roll published on August 31, while 33.13 lakh electors have been identified for notices over discrepancies in their enumeration forms. A large number of the cases relate to voters whose details could not be matched with the electoral roll prepared during the previous SIR in 2002.
Among those whose names figured in the notice list are External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta, former Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, former deputy prime minister L K Advani, former vice-president Jagdeep Dhankhar and Election Commissioner S S Sandhu. The notices have cited different discrepancies, including cases where voters could not be mapped to the previous SIR roll.
The exercise, however, is not being carried out in the same manner across all parts of the city.
A BLO in East Delhi’s Krishna Nagar said voters in his area who received notices are generally being asked to visit the election office with their documents for verification.
Meanwhile, a BLO in New Delhi’s West Ansari Nagar said the arrangement is relevant for New Delhi, where many voters are government officials or doctors and are at work during the hours allotted for verification.
“In New Delhi, there are many government employees — some are holding high posts. So all of them will be busy during the allotted time. The time allotted for addressing discrepancies is around 12 pm to 2 pm. At that time, who will come from their offices? Who can leave work midway and travel so far?” he said.
The BLO said some 56 of the around 270 voters at his polling station have received notices over discrepancies in details.
He also said some voters, particularly those with less awareness about the electoral process, are not taking the notices seriously and had told him they would simply get new voter identity cards next year if their names were removed.
The BLO said he had also been calling voters and offering to visit their homes to collect required documents.
The Delhi CEO’s office has also deployed additional assistant electoral registration officers across the city’s 70 assembly constituencies, besides EROs, to assist in dealing with notices, and claims and objections.
Special camps are also being held at polling stations on September 20 and 27 from 10 am to 5 pm.
Separate camps for transgender persons and sex workers will be held on September 23 and 24 from 5 pm to 9 pm at night shelters and other designated locations across Delhi, in coordination with NGOs working with the communities.
The final electoral roll is scheduled to be published on November 4. PTI MSJ VIT ARB
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