Election Commission offers simple way back for voters dropped from draft rolls

Voters whose names were left off the recent Special Intensive Revision draft rolls in six states and union territories will get a fresh opportunity to restore their registration. The Election Commission of India announced this relief following a suggestion from the Supreme Court made a week prior.

Who Is Affected

The draft rolls published on August 31 in Delhi, Maharashtra, Haryana, Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand, and Telangana dropped millions of citizens. In Delhi alone, nearly forty-seven lakh fifty thousand voters were removed after officials classified them as absent, shifted, dead, duplicate, or falling into other categories.

The New Process

Citizens who lost their spots do not need to file regular new enrolment forms or address change forms. Officials stated that excluded individuals instead need to complete a newly generated enumeration form accompanied by a signed declaration. Voters can download their partially pre-filled enumeration forms online through the official election website or the ECINET application using their voter identity card number. Any adult living in the same household can fill out the paperwork on behalf of the absent voter. Applicants must also trace a family member's name or their own name in the two thousand two electoral roll, which marks the year of the last intensive revision in Delhi. Those who relocated to the capital after that year can check the voter registry of their home state online. People whose home addresses have not changed must hand over their completed forms and a declaration to local booth level officers, registration officers, or submit them digitally using electronic signatures. Residents who moved to a new address within Delhi must provide fresh address proof, while homeless citizens can rely on a field verification report from a local officer. Booth level agents, welfare associations, and local volunteers will conduct door-to-door visits to help citizens complete the paperwork. Voters who successfully get their names back on the final registry will keep their original voter identification numbers.

Context

Electoral rolls undergo periodic revisions to remove names of people who have moved away or passed away so that voter lists stay accurate. When large-scale deletions happen due to field-level surveys, regulatory bodies often set up special correction windows to ensure genuine citizens do not lose their right to vote.