ECI to involve political parties at grassroots for voter list revision in UP
Uttar Pradesh chief electoral officer Navdeep Rinwa has directed DMs and district election officers of all the districts to hold meetings with representatives of political parties
Amid Bihar’s electoral roll revision controversy, the Election Commission of India (ECI) has decided to take the exercise in Uttar Pradesh to the grassroots involving the booth level agents of political parties.
Uttar Pradesh chief electoral officer Navdeep Rinwa has directed the district magistrates and the district election officers of all the districts to hold meetings with the representatives of the political parties before the commencement of the electoral rolls revision in their respective districts.
The DMs have been directed to request the political parties to appoint booth level agents (BLAs) at all the polling booths who will work in coordination with the booth level officers (BLOs) appointed by the ECI for the revision of the electoral rolls.
“The aim is to involve the political parties in the exercise from the very start of the process. Their involvement will also check allegations regarding irregularities in the electoral rolls. It has been observed that there has been slackness on the part of the political parties to appoint BLAs during the revision of the electoral rolls at the booth level,” said an ECI officer.
In the absence of the BLAs, the BLOs conduct the revision work single handed deleting the names of the those voters who have either migrated or died besides duplicate voters. The names of new voters who are eligible for voting according to the norms of the ECI are added in the voters list.
{{/usCountry}}In the absence of the BLAs, the BLOs conduct the revision work single handed deleting the names of the those voters who have either migrated or died besides duplicate voters. The names of new voters who are eligible for voting according to the norms of the ECI are added in the voters list.
{{/usCountry}}“After publication, the copies of the final electoral roll are distributed among the political parties. During the Lok Sabha or the assembly elections, the allegations regarding electoral rolls started pouring in from the political parties. If the political parties are involved in the process, the complaints will be minimal,” he added.
{{/usCountry}}“After publication, the copies of the final electoral roll are distributed among the political parties. During the Lok Sabha or the assembly elections, the allegations regarding electoral rolls started pouring in from the political parties. If the political parties are involved in the process, the complaints will be minimal,” he added.
{{/usCountry}}Along with holding meetings with the representatives of the political parties, the DMs also conducted an external site inspection of the EVM warehouses. Suggestions and information were collected from the political parties. The CCTV camera recordings installed in the warehouses were also checked in the presence of the representatives of the political parties.
{{/usCountry}}Along with holding meetings with the representatives of the political parties, the DMs also conducted an external site inspection of the EVM warehouses. Suggestions and information were collected from the political parties. The CCTV camera recordings installed in the warehouses were also checked in the presence of the representatives of the political parties.
{{/usCountry}}The DMs of various districts in their posts on X informed the ECI and the CEO about the meetings with the representatives of the political parties and requests made to them regarding the revision of the electoral rolls.
Uttar Pradesh chief electoral officer Navdeep Rinwa said, “The ECI intends that the voter list should be completely error-free, updated and transparent to ensure that every eligible citizen can exercise their franchise during the polls.”
“Along with following the limit of maximum 1,200 voters at every polling station, the names of all the members of the same family should be registered at the same polling booth. The political parties are also involved to get their suggestions,” he said.
“We will visit various districts randomly to check the revision of the electoral rolls and working of the local officers involved in the exercise. We are working to ensure that before the 2027 assembly election in UP, we have an error-free voter list,” Rinwa added.
On the instruction of the ECI, the UP CEO has already completed the training of district election officers. “Its purpose is to ensure that the officers associated with the special voter list revision campaign are well acquainted with the technical and procedural aspects of the revision of electoral rolls,” he said.
