NEW DELHI: Responding to opposition parties' constant criticism of the ongoing SIR of Bihar's electoral rolls, chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar on Thursday asked if EC should, swayed by such attacks, allow bogus votes to be cast in the name of electors who are deceased, permanently shifted, enrolled at two or more places or "illegal foreign immigrants", first in the state and then across country.
The query came on a day EC put the total number of electors in Bihar "not found at their addresses so far" at 61.1 lakh. This is inclusive of 21.6 lakh voters reported by booth level officers (BLOs) and political parties' booth level agents (BLAs) as deceased, 31.5 lakh as premanently migrated, seven lakh as registered at more than one place, and 1 lakh as "untraceable".
"Should such bogus votes be allowed in violation of the Constitution," the CEC asked while describing SIR as "a transparent exercise to make the electoral roll error-free, as the foundation stone of a robust democracy". "Time has come for all to introspect on these important questions," he told TOI.
With just one day to go before the deadline for submission of filled and signed enumeration forms in Bihar, EC said 99% of the state's 7.9 crore are now covered under SIR, and over 91.3 forms received and digitised. "Names of all these electors will be included in the draft electoral roll," EC said and added that the remaining forms are being digitised along with BLO/BLA reports to facilitate verification during the claims and objections period.
With just six to seven lakh electors remaining to turn in their forms, "BLOs and BLAs will reach out to each of them in the hours leading up to the deadline, and help them to do the needful", said an election commission official.
As per the SIR order, the draft electoral roll will be published on Aug 1, and its printed and digital copies provided to all recognised political parties, in addition to its being uploaded on the EC website. The electors and parties will have a month's time from Aug 1 to file a claim in case of missing names or raise an objection in case of a wrong inclusion.
The query came on a day EC put the total number of electors in Bihar "not found at their addresses so far" at 61.1 lakh. This is inclusive of 21.6 lakh voters reported by booth level officers (BLOs) and political parties' booth level agents (BLAs) as deceased, 31.5 lakh as premanently migrated, seven lakh as registered at more than one place, and 1 lakh as "untraceable".
"Should such bogus votes be allowed in violation of the Constitution," the CEC asked while describing SIR as "a transparent exercise to make the electoral roll error-free, as the foundation stone of a robust democracy". "Time has come for all to introspect on these important questions," he told TOI.
With just one day to go before the deadline for submission of filled and signed enumeration forms in Bihar, EC said 99% of the state's 7.9 crore are now covered under SIR, and over 91.3 forms received and digitised. "Names of all these electors will be included in the draft electoral roll," EC said and added that the remaining forms are being digitised along with BLO/BLA reports to facilitate verification during the claims and objections period.
With just six to seven lakh electors remaining to turn in their forms, "BLOs and BLAs will reach out to each of them in the hours leading up to the deadline, and help them to do the needful", said an election commission official.
As per the SIR order, the draft electoral roll will be published on Aug 1, and its printed and digital copies provided to all recognised political parties, in addition to its being uploaded on the EC website. The electors and parties will have a month's time from Aug 1 to file a claim in case of missing names or raise an objection in case of a wrong inclusion.
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