Kerala orders help desks at village level to map links with 2002 voters list

The draft rolls, brought out by the Election Commission of India (ECI) on December 23, contain 2.54 crore voters, as against 2.78 crore forms distributed in the state in the first phase of the SIR. The draft was published after dropping 24.08 lakh enumeration forms categorised as uncollectible.

Of the 2.54 crore voters in the draft, around 19.32 lakh voters aged between 18 and 40 will have to appear for hearings to prove their link with the voters’ list of 2002. They will have to furnish documents pertaining to their relationship with those whose names figured in the 2002 list.

Following a Cabinet decision, the state government on Saturday directed the setting up of help desks at all village offices under the Revenue Department to assist those dropped from the draft rolls. The order said the desks would help people excluded from the draft to enrol in the voters’ list. Apart from the help desks, officials have been asked to visit tribal settlements and coastal villages, with the help of volunteers, to track eligible persons for inclusion in the voters’ list.

Referring to the state government order, which said those excluded from the voters’ list (ADS list) would have to appear for hearings, the State Chief Electoral Officer said: “There is no hearing for the people who have figured in the ADS list. They are outside the draft electoral rolls. The hearing will be conducted only for 19 lakhs.”

Those who have figured in the ADS list and want to be voters will have to submit fresh applications under Form 6.

CEO Rathan U Kelkar said hearing as part of mapping with the 2002 voters’ list would not be required for those who have submitted documents to the Booth Level Officers (BLOs). “We have appointed 1,000 Electoral Registration Officers and the hearing module has become active from Saturday. Hearings will commence from the first week of January. If an ERO conducts hearings of 100 persons a day, we can cover one lakh voters in a day, and we expect the entire process to be over in twenty days or a month. Those who have been dropped from the draft rolls can become voters only by submitting fresh applications under Form 6,” he said.