Haryana SIR: Chief electoral officer holds meeting with representatives of political parties

Chandigarh, Sep 16 (PTI) Haryana Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) A Sreenivas presided over a meeting convened here on Tuesday on the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and urged all national and state-level recognised political parties to appoint their booth level agents (BLAs) by September 30.

He told them to ensure that this information is shared with the CEO as well as all deputy commissioners and district election officers in the state.

The Election Commission of India (ECI) is holding its first SIR of electoral rolls in Bihar, which goes to polls later this year. The opposition parties vehemently protested the exercise, even inside Parliament during the Monsoon session. The matter even reached the Supreme Court which has allowed the exercise to continue but asked the ECI to consider including the Aadhaar card as one of the identity cards for inclusion of someone's name in the voter list.

Addressing representatives of political parties during the meeting, he said that according to the ECI's guidelines, all states and Union Territories are undertaking pre-revision work of electoral rolls. In Haryana, such an intensive revision is being carried out after nearly 23 years, an official statement said.

The current electoral roll will be cross-verified with the 2002 roll. If a voter's name is found in both lists, no additional documents will be required. However, such voters will still need to fill an enumeration form provided by the both level officer (BLO) for inclusion in the updated roll.

Highlighting the importance of BLAs, Sreenivas said that they act as a crucial link for BLOs in preparing error-free electoral rolls. Therefore, political parties must also submit the list of their authorised officials who will be responsible for appointing BLAs to the CEO's office, according to the official statement.

The last final publication of the Haryana electoral roll took place before the 2024 assembly elections.

The CEO emphasised that every recognised political party must appoint BLAs, since they are familiar with their polling station areas.

BLAs are aware of those who have turned 18, the voters who have passed away and those who have permanently shifted residence, information that is crucial for BLOs in ensuring error-free rolls.

Sreenivas also informed the party representatives that the ECI is working towards making voter data searchable in "searchable mode" across all states. Once completed, any individual will be able to search for a voter's name on the ECI's portal.

He said that the process of matching the 2002 voter list with the 2024 list, to be conducted by all BLOs, must be completed by September 20. PTI SUN KSS KSS