Names of 65 lakh voters excluded in Bihar draft roll posted on district websites following SC order: CEC

CEC Gyanesh Kumar also underlined that the election system for parliament and assembly elections in India is a multi-layered, decentralised construct as envisaged by law.

The list of names deleted from Bihar's draft electoral rolls following special intensive revision has been posted on the websites of district magistrates following the Supreme Court's orders, Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar said on Sunday.

Hearing a bunch of petitions challenging the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in poll-bound Bihar, the Supreme Court had last week asked the Election Commission (EC) to publish details of 65 lakh deleted names from the voters list with reasons of non-inclusion to enhance transparency in the process.

Addressing a press conference in Delhi, Kumar said that within 56 hours of the top court directive, the names of voters that were not included in the draft electoral roll have been posted on district websites.

He also underlined that the election system for parliament and assembly elections in India is a multi-layered, decentralised construct as envisaged by law.

Based on the guidelines issued by the Election Commission, Electoral Registration Officers (EROs), who are SDM-level officers, prepare and finalise the Electoral Rolls (ER) with the help of Booth Level Officers (BLOs).

EROs and BLOs undertake the responsibility for the correctness of Electoral Rolls, it said.

After the publication of the draft electoral rolls, their digital and physical copies are shared with all political parties and put on the EC website for anyone to see.

Following the publication of the draft electoral rolls, a full one-month period is available with the electors and political parties for the filing of claims and objections before the final ER is published, he explained.

The draft electoral roll was published on August 1 in Bihar and it will be available till September 1 for claims and objections under which parties and individuals can seek inclusion of eligible citizens or exclusion of those they believe are ineligible.

The CEC defended the SIR at the press conference on Sunday and said it is a matter of grave concern that some parties were spreading "misinformation" on the exercise.