Mere Possession of Voter ID Card Does not Guarantee Right to Vote: Delhi CEO

NEW DELHI:
The Chief Electoral Officer, Delhi, is conducting a Special Summary Revision of electoral rolls with the qualifying date set as January 1, 2025, a statement said on Tuesday, highlighting the CEO’s emphasis that mere possession of a voter ID card does not guarantee the right to vote.

This process is being carried out as per the instructions of the Election Commission of India, ensuring that the electoral rolls remain updated and inclusive for all eligible voters.

During the pre-revision period, house-to-house verification was carried out from August 20, 2024, to October 18, 2024, by Booth Level Officers.

This exercise aimed to identify unregistered eligible citizens, prospective voters turning 18 by October 1, 2024, as well as permanently shifted or deceased electors and duplicate entries, the statement said.

Following this, the draft electoral rolls were published on October 29, 2024, inviting the public to file claims and objections. These were accepted by November 28, 2024, and all the claims and objections received were already disposed of by December 24, 2024.

The final electoral roll, reflecting these updates, is scheduled for publication on January 6, 2025.

However, the process of updation of rolls with respect to addition, deletion and modification is a continuous activity and the same is undergoing at present also.

Between November 29, 2024, and the present date, 4,85,624 applications for new registrations (Form 6), 82,450 applications for deletions (Form 7), and 1,71,385 applications for modifications (Form 8) have been received till date.

Citizens who have not yet registered as voters can still apply for enrollment using Form 6, which requires submission of supporting documents for verification by the respective Booth Level Officer.

For modifications or deletions in the electoral roll, Form 8 and Form 7 can be filed.

The CEO Office, Delhi also reminded citizens that having multiple entries in the electoral roll or multiple voter ID cards is a punishable offence under Sections 17 and 18 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950.

Recently, FIRs have been filed against eight individuals for submitting false documents for voter registration in the Okhla Assembly constituency in Delhi. Strict action will continue to be taken against such violations.

As a transparency measure, meetings with representatives of political parties were held on September 4. October 9 and 29.

The CEO Office emphasised that any un-enrolled eligible citizen, who has still not enrolled himself/herself in the electoral rolls, can apply for enrollment by filing Form-6 along with supporting documents. After filing Form-6, the form is assigned to the Booth Level Officer (BLO) of the part concerned for field verification.

On the basis of the BLO’s field verification report and the supporting documents, the form is disposed of by the Electoral Registration Officer concerned as per the procedure laid down by the Election Commission.

After the update of his/her name in the electoral roll, an EPIC PDF is generated and sent for printing. After receipt of printed EPIC, the same is delivered to the elector through post. An elector can also download his/her e-EPIC from the ECI’s portal https://voters.eci.gov.in

In case any elector has permanently shifted or expired, any elector of that particular Assembly Constituency can file Form 7 objecting to such entry in the electoral roll. After filing Form 7, notices are issued to the Objector and the Objectee through speed post as per relevant guidelines of the ECI except for registered death cases. If the elector fails to respond, the name is deleted from the electoral roll after following due procedure as laid down by the ECI and after giving sufficient opportunity to the elector concerned.