PANAJI
As many as 88 of the 97 voters at the centre of the controversy over their deletion from Goa’s electoral rolls have now been included back in the voters list, the Chief Electoral Office (CEO) said on Thursday. The CEO also said three of the remaining cases involve persons holding Portuguese passports, while six voters are currently outside India. In a social media post, the CEO’s office said the 88 voters had submitted fresh Form 6 applications, which were subsequently accepted and their names restored to the electoral roll. Of the remaining nine cases, three involve voters identified as Portuguese passport holders, while six are currently residing outside India. “In respect of the voters who are currently residing outside India, the concerned officials are making efforts to establish and maintain contact with them for further necessary action,” the CEO said. The deletion of the 97 voters had triggered controversy after a media investigation reported that the voters, despite being examined and found eligible by Electoral Registration Officers (EROs), were left out of the final electoral roll. As reported earlier, the centralised ECINet system did not provide election officials with a facility to reverse earlier deletion decisions. The CEO’s office had reportedly sent eight emails to the Election Commission between February 11 and 17 seeking a “rollback” facility to reverse the deletion decisions. However, the facility was not enabled before publication of the final electoral roll on February 21.
The controversy subsequently prompted the Election Commission to indicate that eligible voters would not be denied their right to be included in the electoral rolls. In yet another post, CEO said that the 97 cases were separately processed through house-to-house visit by BLOs for completion of form 6. “It is reiterated that no eligible elector will be left behind,” CEO said. The CEO’s office has maintained that the affected voters were not permanently denied their right to enrol, and that the prescribed procedure was followed to restore the names of eligible voters to the electoral roll.
CEO to launch special drive to enrol left-out, first-time voters
The Chief Electoral Office (CEO), Goa, will conduct a special drive to enrol eligible voters who have been left out of the electoral roll, along with young and first-time voters who have recently become eligible to vote. The drive is being undertaken in pursuance of instructions from the Election Commission of India and will form part of the continuous updation of electoral rolls. As part of the exercise, Booth Level Officers (BLOs) will undertake house-to-house visits to identify and facilitate the enrolment of eligible citizens who are not currently included in the electoral roll. The special drive will particularly focus on young voters who have attained eligibility but are yet to register themselves as electors. The CEO has urged eligible citizens to cooperate with BLOs during the house-to-house verification and enrolment exercise and avail themselves of the opportunity to get their names included in the electoral roll. “The active participation and cooperation of citizens will help ensure that no eligible voter is left out of the electoral roll and that all eligible citizens are able to exercise their right to vote,” CEO said.
