You can still be registered as voter

Prabhjot Singh
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, March 5
Can you still be registered as a voter for the coming Lok Sabha elections?

Yes, says the Election Commission.

The declaration of the Lok Sabha elections and imposition of the model code of conduct notwithstanding, if you have turned 18 on New Year Day of the election year and fulfil all other conditions to be a voter, you can be registered as a voter till the last day of the filing of nomination papers in your respective constituency.

The commission, however, insists that to ensure the inclusion of a new name in the electoral rolls, an application must be filed 10 clear days before the closing of nominations. The elector registration officer is required to give seven-day public notice for inviting objections before he or she can order the inclusion of a name in the rolls.

But, once nominations have been closed, your name cannot be included in the electoral rolls.

A top Election Commission official explained that in the last Lok Sabha elections in Punjab, 38,000 new voters were registered between the last day of the revision of electoral rolls and the last date for the filing of nomination papers. The same thing happened in the union territory of Chandigarh, neighbouring Haryana and Himachal Pradesh.

“It is advisable that all eligible voters should check electoral rolls for their names immediately after the elections have been announced. That way it gives them time to get themselves registered even if their names have been deleted from the rolls for one reason or the other,” suggest Election Commission officials.

The Representation of People’s Act has a simple procedure for getting an eligible voter registered. Normally, the Election Commission prepares the electoral rolls through a process of intensive revision where house-to-house enumeration is undertaken and all eligible electors in each house are registered by enumerators. This type of revision is normally done once in five years.

In between two intensive revisions of the electoral rolls, a summary revision of the rolls is done almost every year during a specified and well-publicised schedule. An opportunity is provided to those whose names have been left out of the electoral rolls.

An eligible person can file his or her claim for inclusion in the electoral rolls by filling Form 6. The name of someone, who has either died or left the area, can be got deleted by filling Form 7. Forms 8 and 8A are for change of address.

“If you apply by leaving less than 10 clear days before the last date for filing of nominations in your area, your name may not be included in the electoral rolls,” they explain.

Courtsey : Tribune Publication, India

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