If you have received a notice during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls because your details are classified as “unmapped” or show “logical discrepancies”, you will generally not have to appear personally before the Electoral Registration Officer (ERO), the Election Commission of India (ECI) said on Saturday.
Instead, Booth Level Officers (BLOs) will visit the homes of such electors to collect the required documents. The documents will then be uploaded on the ECINet portal for the ERO to take a decision, according to the ECI.
What happens after you receive a notice?
The ECI said BLOs will visit the homes of people who have been issued notices for being “unmapped and logical discrepancies” and collect their documents.
{{/usCountry}}The ECI said BLOs will visit the homes of people who have been issued notices for being “unmapped and logical discrepancies” and collect their documents.
{{/usCountry}}These documents will subsequently be uploaded on ECINet for the ERO to consider while taking a decision.
The Commission said such electors need not be called for a hearing at the ERO or Assistant Electoral Registration Officer (AERO) office.
When will a hearing be held?
A personal hearing will be required only in exceptional circumstances, as decided by the ERO, the ECI said.
Where a hearing is considered necessary, it will preferably be conducted online. The Commission said facilities for online hearings will be strengthened.
An elector will also be able to authorise any adult member of their family to attend the hearing on their behalf, if required.
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Other changes announced by ECI
The ECI announced the changes after a meeting of the full Commission at Nirvachan Sadan on Saturday. The meeting was attended by Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi.
The Commission also directed district election officers to create an adequate number of help desks or hold special camps, as required, for people living in night shelters as well as labourers, the poor and homeless.
The ECI said the declaration attached to Form 6 for the SIR has been upheld by the Supreme Court. Outside the SIR period, forms applicable under the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960, will be used.
The Commission also ordered a review of its ECINet system. A committee headed by a senior deputy election commissioner and including an independent expert from an IIT or IIIT will review ECINet to “double-check that it complies with the provisions of the Acts and Rules” and submit a report to the Commission.
The ECI said any further flexibility required by field officers would be made operational. The notice also said all new initiatives concerning IT modules and portals would be discussed in the Committee of Officers (COO) before being placed before the Commission for approval.