2003 voter roll goes online, ECI scrambles to fix 'flaws'
PATNA, July 2 -- The Election Commission of India after uploading the 2003 electoral roll of Bihar on its website is now ensuring that voters don't encounter glitches while finding their names and have to navigate a maze of anomalies. So, the officials are fixing issues like size of fonts and sorting other technical issues.
The officials swung to action amid complaints from electors that the 2003 electoral rolls, which were uploaded on Monday, was not very legible and also the searching of names was proving a tedious and visibly tangled process as booths have changed or intermingled within different polling stations as part of the rationalisation process in the last two decades
Rationalisation of booths is a process undertaken before elections so that names of electors are put in nearest booths close to their homes and polling stations are also set up in such places where electors can vote without any intimidation or fear. Additional booths are also created under the rationalisation process.
"We have got feedback from general people that rationalisation of booths has led to booths getting changed in the last many years. Those who voted in 2003 in one booth have got their names shifted to other booths and may be in some cases, in some other constituencies following delimitation. There are also issues about the font size in the electoral roll, which is very small and difficult to look for names," said an election department official, seeking anonymity.
He said the ECI has been apprised about the problems and remedial steps were being taken to make the searching of names by electors in the 2003 rolls a more simple and easy process. "The technical team is working on the issues and new measures would be introduced so that electors can search their names easily. It will be done in the next two days," said another state election official, in the know of the matter.
The 2003 electoral rolls, which is the base roll of around 4.96 crore electors enlisted after Special Intensive Revision ( SIR) conducted 22 years back in Bihar, has been uploaded by the ECI as a move to provide electors enrolled in the last SIR an opportunity to search for their names and easily get their names enrolled in the ongoing SIR, which kick started in the state from June 25. As per guidelines of the ECI, those electors who have their names in the 2003 electoral roll do not have to provide any documents to establish their place of birth and / or date of birth as a criteria for proving citizenship and being above 18 years of age. The guidelines state that ' electors whose names are present in the 2003 rolls only need to mention the serial number of their entries in the rolls along with the enumeration forms to be filled by them without giving any documentary proof of their place of birth/ date of birth' during the house to house verification of electors.
Another big problem, sources said, is being faced by electors is that 2003 rolls do not have much mention of the EPIC number as at that time, the computerisation process was in its initial phase. So, electors who have I cards issued at that time are finding it difficult to search for their names based on the EPIC number and instead have to glean through hundreds of pages of voters' list booth wise to find one's name.
"Yes, that is a big issue as the 2003 rolls had only names of electors and father's name but not very comprehensive as it is now. Besides, one has to look for several booths by one's memory to ascertain which booth one had voted at that time, if his /her name appeared in the 2003 electoral rolls. There are these issues but we are looking into it," said another state election official. In a press note issued by the ECI on Monday, it was said that 'the case of availability of 2003 electoral rolls of Bihar, would hugely facilitate the ongoing SIR in Bihar as nearly 60 percent of the total electorate would not have to submit any documents. They have to just verify their details from the 2003 electoral rolls in the ER and submit the filled up enumeration form. Both, the electors as well as the BLOs, would be able to readily access these details'....
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