admin
admin
Acting on complaints from the YSR Congress Party on electors possessing duplicate votes, Andhra Pradesh Chief Electoral Officer Mukesh Kumar Meena has instructed the district collectors (district election officers) to take precautions to maintain the integrity of the process.
Earlier YSRCP has written to the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) alleging that electors possessing duplicate votes in Andhra Pradesh and neighbouring states and asked to take action against them. The party also raised a concern that following the conclusion of elections in elections in other states, some voters may enroll afresh in Andhra Pradesh with or without the deregistration.
Regarding the complaints raised by YSRCP, the CEO has written to all district election officers to be vigilant, and in all cases of objections on existing electors in the electoral roll on suspicion of being a duplicate or dead or shifted elector, the appropriate measure is to file Form-7 through the objector who is an elector of the Constituency or through the concerned BLA in online mode or submit it to the BLO/ERO/AERO along with proper supporting documents subject to the condition that bulk forms in physical mode will not be accepted.
He also said that all such forms filed by any objector should be disposed of expeditiously after due enquiry as per ECI guidelines and as per the SoP dated (11.08.2023)
According to Sections 17 and 18 of the Representation of the People Act, of 1950, a person cannot be enrolled as a voter at more than one place and no person can be enrolled as an elector more than once in any electoral roll.
The CEO also mentioned that applying for enrolment hiding the previous enrolment by giving a false declaration will entail penal action under Section 31 of the Representation of People Act, 1950. Further, Form 6 shall only be taken from the first-time applicant for enrolment as an elector.
“While filing Form-6 for fresh enrolment a declaration must be signed that his/her name is not included in the electoral roll of any other constituency. If they give false declarations, they are liable to be punished under section 31 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950 which carries imprisonment for a year, or fine, or both. Further, field verification for all Form 6 applications where the age of the applicant is above 20 years should focus specifically on ascertaining the reason for non-enrolment. Remarks to be written by the BLO in each case” said the Memo written by Mukesh Kumar Meena to the district election officers.
He also advised the BLOs and AEROs that during scrutiny of form 8 for shifting from other States, to search the names of the applicants for duplication with the help of EPIC numbers on the ECI portal. If the name is found in any other place, the same shall be recorded as comments on the forms by the BLO.
If any objection is received, a personal hearing is to be conducted and a final decision by the ERO should be taken only after considering all aspects including supporting documents, field verification, remarks of BLO/AERO, objections raised by any elector/BLA if any, personal hearing, and additional measures like electoral search option in ECI portal. In case a false declaration is filed by any applicant, the ERO must proceed against them by filing cases under the relevant Acts.
All additions shall be monitored by the District Election Officer on a regular basis to avoid misuse of provisions. “As a measure of complete transparency and for the information of all stakeholders, the list of claims and objections is to be made available by EROs to all political parties on a weekly basis. It will be published on the CEO’s website daily. List of additions and deletions are also placed on the CEO website on a weekly basis,” said the Chief Electoral Officer.
