New Delhi [India], August 17 (ANI): Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar on Sunday said the decision on the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise in West Bengal and other states will be taken collectively by the three Election Commissioners.
“The three Election Commissioners will decide when the exercise of SIR will be carried out in West Bengal or other states,” he said while addressing a press conference in the national capital.
Clarifying the legal provisions available to citizens who wish to object to the inclusion of a voter’s name, Kumar said such objections can be made before the electoral registration officer by taking an oath.
“If you are not a voter of that constituency, then you have only one option in the law, and that is The Registration of Electors Rules, Rule 20, sub-clause (3)(b), which says that if you are not a voter of that constituency, you can lodge your complaint as a witness. You will have to give an oath to the electoral registration officer, and that oath will have to be administered in front of the person against whom you have complained,” Kumar stated.
Earlier in the day, the CEC clarified that the machine-readable voter list is prohibited, citing a 2019 decision of the Election Commission following a Supreme Court judgment.
“The machine-readable voter list is prohibited. This decision of the Election Commission came after the judgment of the Supreme Court in 2019,” he said. “We have to understand the difference between a machine-readable voter list and a searchable voter list. You can search the voter list available on the Election Commission website by entering the EPIC number. You can also download it. This is not called machine-readable. Regarding machine-readable, in 2019, the Supreme Court studied this subject in depth and found that giving a machine-readable electoral roll can violate the privacy of the voter,” he added.
Meanwhile, Kumar assured that the officials of the Election Commission of India are working towards making the Special Intensive Revision in Bihar a “huge success.” He said the doors of the Election Commission are always open to everyone and emphasized that the poll body is working in a “transparent” manner.
This statement comes amid criticism of the Election Commission by opposition parties over the ongoing SIR of electoral rolls in poll-bound Bihar.
“The truth is that step by step, all the stakeholders are committed, trying, and working hard to make the SIR of Bihar a complete success. When more than seven crore voters of Bihar are standing with the Election Commission, then neither can any question mark be raised on the credibility of the Election Commission nor on the credibility of the voters,” the CEC said. (ANI)
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