New Delhi, Sept. 8 -- Residents whose homes were demolished during recent anti-encroachment drives will not have to lose their place on Delhi's electoral rolls merely because they have shifted, with the Delhi Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) office clarifying that such electors can use Form 8 to update their address and retain their voter registration.
The clarification came in response to a representation by the Voter Adhikar Manch amid the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. The CEO office said existing Election Commission rules require enumeration forms to be delivered to electors found at their registered addresses.
Under Section 19 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950, an elector must be an "Ordinary Resident" of the constituency. Those who have shifted can apply through Form 8 for transfer of their electoral registration to their new address.
"If a person has ceased to Ordinary Resident of the constituency for any reason, he/she may apply for shifting of address in Form-8," the CEO office said.
The office also clarified that a voter's name is not automatically deleted from the old address merely because the person has shifted. The deletion from the previous address follows after the elector's name is added at the new location.
The clarification assumes significance after around 47.5 lakh electors were left out of the draft electoral rolls published on August 31. These voters were categorised during the enumeration exercise as Absent, Shifted, Dead or Duplicate (ASDD), among other reasons.
The CEO office said BLOs had shared ASDD lists with booth-level agents of recognised political parties during the enumeration process, while discrepancies brought to their notice were examined and corrected by Electoral Registration Officers.
Electors whose names are missing from the draft roll can file Form 6 during the claims and objections period, which runs until September 30. Those seeking address changes can submit Form 8 along with the required declaration and supporting documents.
The CEO office reiterated that electoral roll revision is a continuous process and names can be added, deleted or modified through Forms 6, 7 and 8.
It said, "no eligible citizen is left out while no ineligible person is included in the Electoral Roll," and added that the final electoral roll is scheduled to be published on November 4.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.