The Telangana election commission faced severe backlash after many voters were unable to find their names on the electoral rolls on December 7. Social media was rife with complaints and the state election commission was heavily criticised for its lack of preparedness. The deletion of 22 lakh voter names from the electoral rolls led many to question the credibility of the EC in the state.
Breaking its silence on Monday, the election commission issued a press release clarifying its stand on the deletions and inclusions made as part of the voter enrolment.
Defending its stand, the EC said the voters’ list for the Assembly election was updated duly after taking up an extensive exercise as per the guidelines issued by the ECI. The final list, which was published on November 19, included the supplementary list so people could check if they were eligible to vote.
“The electoral rolls, which were used for the polling, contained 2,80,64,684 voters as compared to 2,61,36,776 voters in the draft rolls published on September 9. It is estimated that approximately 26 lakh voters have been enrolled during the exercise,” the EC said.
The EC reiterated its stand by clarifying that people who were eligible to vote could have checked if their names were in the rolls through the Telangana Chief Electoral Officer’s website ceo.telangana.gov.in.
“Objections under Form No 7 are invariably invited from citizens to raise objections within seven days before carrying out deletions. Similarly voters are required to apply in Form 6 if they want their names to be included. Ample time, opportunity and scope were provided to the citizens to register their grievances regarding the deletions of their names,” the note read.
It also mentioned that voters could have checked their votes through the “Check Your Vote” campaign that was carried out from October 26 to November 5.
To citizens who complained of not finding their votes despite voting in the 2014 general elections, the election commission said that the responsibility for checking of names and enrolment, if required, lies with the voters. The mere fact that they have voted in the earlier election does not entitle them to vote in subsequent elections.
“The voters are informed that they are required to file an application in Form-6 either online through the National Voter Service Portal or physically to their BLO/ERO,” they further added.
Regarding the general assembly elections next year, the EC said steps are being taken and the Office of the Chief Electoral Officer, Telangana, will be taking up an extensive exercise to update the rolls from December 26 onwards to prepare the electoral rolls with effect from January 1, 2019.