Poll Panel says voter list updating to be strengthened in coordination with birth, death registration bodies

New Delhi: Amid a debate on the purity of electoral rolls, the Election Commission said on Thursday that the regular updating process of the voter list will be strengthened in close coordination with the birth and death registration authorities.
Technical consultations between the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) and experts of the EC will begin soon on voter list-Aadhaar linkage, it said, adding that though an elector can only vote in the assigned polling booth and nowhere else, the poll body has resolved to remove duplicates countrywide and end a decades-long issue within three months.
“Regular updation of the voter list shall be strengthened in close coordination with the birth and death registration authorities,” the EC said in a statement.
In the EC’s interactions with political parties, it was clarified that any inclusion or deletion in the draft elector list is governed by the process of appeals under relevant legal provisions for filing claims and objections available to all political parties in the Representation of People act, 1950.
In the absence of such appeals, the list as prepared by the electoral registration officer (ERO) prevails.
The EC recalled that merely 89 first appeals and just a single second appeal were filed after the completion of the Special Summary Revision exercise in January.
The poll authority also said it has charted out “bold steps” towards strengthening election processes.
It said nearly 5,000 poll officials, including state chief electoral officers, district electoral officers and electoral registration officers, will hold regular meetings with political parties for resolution of issues at the grassroots levels by March 31.
The poll panel said digital training has also been planned for continuous capacity augmentation of nearly one crore election officials.