Election Commission to Verify Bihar Voters’ Birth Details Amid Allegations of Vote Theft
New Delhi: The Election Commission of India on Tuesday (June 24) ordered Bihar’s chief electoral office to conduct a special intensive revision (SIR) – a verification of all voters’ places and dates of birth – in preparation for the assembly polls later this year.
The electoral roll will be updated based on this exercise.
Until now, to apply as a voter, citizens were only required to offer proof of residence and date of birth. However, the verification of place of birth has turned this into a kind of citizenship test, the Telegraph reported.
The move comes amid allegations by the Bharatiya Janata Party that undocumented Bangladesh migrants have registered themselves as voters. The Congress too has levelled allegations of voter manipulation in Maharashtra assembly polls.
Special intensive revision
Booth level officers (BLOs) will be required to carry out these door-to-door checks beginning Wednesday. Voters will be given the enumeration form which they have to fill on the spot and return to the BLO.
The EC has specified parameters for the exercise – if a house is found locked, the BLO will slip the enumeration form under the door and return at least thrice to collect it.
Voters also have the option to submit the enumeration form online, which will be followed by a physical verification by BLOs.
Bihar has around 7.73 crore voters. The deadline for submitting the enumeration form is July 26.
The draft electoral roll will be published on August 1. Voters will have until September 1 to make claims and objections and the final electoral roll is set to be published on September 30.
Names of those who fail to submit the forms can be struck off the electoral list, the paper reported.
The EC has not specified how the verification process will take place for citizens without the required documents.
The enumeration forms lists three age categories according to provisions of The Citizenship Act, 1955.
- Those born in India before July 1, 1987 will have to submit proof of “date of birth and/or place of birth.”
- Those born between July 1, 1987, and December 12, 2004, will have to give the same for themselves as well as proofs for either parent.
- Those born after December 2, 2004 will have to provide proofs for themselves and both their parents.
“If any parent is not Indian, provide a copy of his/her valid passport & visa at the time of your birth,” the form states.
A citizen’s name in the voter list on or before January 1, 2003 will also be taken as proof as the last SIR in Bihar was conducted in 2003.
The form also has categories for those born outside India and naturalised citizens.
However, the EC has not specified what is to be done in the case of children who were abandoned or orphaned and do not have their parent’s documents.
An EC official quoted by the Telegraph said, “This (SIR) is likely to be followed for subsequent elections as well.”
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