Voter deletion fears spur demand for longer SIR window

MARGAO
Citizens under the banner of Citizens for Democracy on Monday have urged the Chief Electoral Officer, Goa, to extend the house-to-house enumeration and collection window by at least four weeks as Zilla Panchayat elections are also notified along with the Special Intensive Revision (SIR).
They highlighted the procedural challenges in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of Electoral Rolls and the resulting risk of voter exclusion.
In a letter addressed to the CEO, the citizens implored the election officials to ensure that the core philosophy continues to remain one of maximising enrolment. “The substantial right to vote must not be nullified solely by forced procedural exigencies that cannot be reasonably met by working families who are away from home in today’s economic climate,” the letter signed by Elvis Gomes and others stated.
The CEO’s office was requested to intensify public awareness by launching a major, accessible media campaign specifically detailing the consequences of non-submission of the enumeration forms to counter voter apathy.
The citizens underscored the need to issue clear instructions that the absence of a completed enumeration form would trigger a secondary, verifiable mechanism, such as a formal notice.
“You could even introduce a verification call/SMS, rather than automatic exclusion from the draft roll,” the citizens suggested, while stressing the need to strictly check for attempts by migrant populations, often with political help, to find their way into the electoral roll without facing the test of eligibility.
Conveying to the CEO’s office experiences reported by the general public during the SIR, the citizens claimed that BLOs in some cases issue only one copy of the enumeration form and take it back, adding further that the BLOs refuse to sign the copy in acknowledgement. “The BLOs send third parties who remain unidentified to collect forms. BLOs seek documents along with the form, BLOs insist on photos,” they further stated.
The letter expressed concern over the implementation and timeline of the current Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise, which, in its present form, carries a significant risk of taking away the substantial right to vote bestowed by the Constitution from a large number of eligible voters due to forced procedural exigencies. “The exercise that started on the 4th of November came in without much publicity, thus keeping the awareness level poor. It is only now, as a result of efforts put in by our volunteers, that a proper understanding is beginning to set in among many people,” they stated.
Saying that voter details in SIR 2002 of a large number of active voters are missing, the letter stated, “This has become challenging particularly for the elderly who obviously may not have their parents’ details in 2002. An example is the case of an 85-year-old woman who is an active voter but whose name doesn’t figure in the SIR 2002. There are several such elderly people who are in old age homes who need to be brought into enumeration too,” they pointed out.
Highlighting the challenges with Enumeration Form Distribution and Collection, the letter stated that the current process mandates door-to-door distribution and subsequent collection of enumeration forms (EFs) within a tight schedule, limited to approximately one month for house-to-house enumeration. “While the ECI may claim achievement of the objective of 100% form distribution, the on-ground reality of 100% successful collection and submission remains questionable. A case in point is the non-distribution of forms in the capital city of Panaji itself, as claimed by a former councillor,” the letter added.
Besides Elvis Gomes, the letter is signed by Pradeep Padgaonkar, Prof Janardhan Tamankar, Dipesh Naik, Orlando Fernandes and Yogesh Nagvenkar.