Times of India: Srinagar:
Saturday, April 19, 2014.
Voters
diligently following the registration process but still finding their names
missing from the electoral rolls is a very serious problem and can't be treated
as just another administrative lapse, former IAS officer Avinash Dharmadhikari
said on Friday.
"What
happened in Pune and other constituencies in the state on polling day has
serious implications for our democracy and this calls for a significant
amendment to the Registration of Electoral Rolls and Conduct of Election
Rules," he told TOI.
Right to
Information (RTI) activists Vijay Kumbhar and Vihar Durve, meanwhile, have sent
complaints to the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) and Pune's district
collector, respectively, seeking corrective steps, including release of details
related to the missing voters and action against officials responsible for
deletion of names from the voters' list.
Former
bureaucrat Arun Bhatia, who is contesting from Pune as a candidate of the
People's Guardian Party, has also sent a complaint to the CEC, demanding that
the Pune constituency polling be declared void and a re-poll be ordered on the
grounds of non-registration of voters.
"There
was very poor publicity regarding the voters' registration movement in
Pune," he said, adding that the district returning officer had neglected
his job. Bhatia is also contemplating filing a writ petition in the Bombay high
court as an abundant precaution.
Dharmadhikari
said, "If a voter's name is missing from the electoral rolls on polling
day, he/she is left with no choice but to send a complaint to the Election
Commission or the election observers. But the issue doesn't end here. In fact,
the larger issue is of the voters who had diligently followed the registration
process, but still found their names missing. This can't be treated as one more
tragic administrative lapse."
"In
countries like the US, there is a provision whereby the presiding officer can
verify the identity and citizenship of a voter and let him/her exercise their
right. I know that this may have a lot of difficulties for implementing in
India. My point is that it's high time to start thinking about an
India-specific solution to protect the citizens' right to vote," he said.
Kumbhar said,
"As per sections 13 and 26 of the registration rules, citizens have to
fill form numbers 7 and 8, for objections regarding inclusion, deletion and
correction of entries in the electoral rolls. It is mandatory that the
objector's name is in the same part of the electoral rolls as the entry about
which the objection has been raised. Now, thousands of voters from Pune are
claiming that there names have been deleted from the list without their
knowledge. It is obvious that all the forms related to their entries are in
possession of the Election Commission."
"As per
RTI Act sections 4 (1) (c) and (d), it is mandatory for all public authorities
to publish all relevant facts while formulating important policies or
announcing the decisions which affect the public and to provide reasons for its
administrative or quasi-judicial decisions to affected persons. The Election
Commission has provided this facility on its website, but the portal doesn't
work," he said.
Kumbhar added
that it was now the duty of the EC to communicate to all the electors whose
names have been deleted and provide the reasons for its action.