Challenges in the Management of Electoral Rolls

Introduction The successful conduct of elections mainly dependent on the quality of electoral roll. It is always a challenge to make arrangements for regular updation of the roll in metropolitan area. Adequate arrangements are to be made to reach out to the people. Simultaneously issue of EPIC Cards and delivering them to the voters is also a challenge. The basic idea behind giving the Electoral Photo Identity Card was not only to curb the bogus voters but also to ensure that genuine voters only turn up during the poll.

Electoral Information Description GHMC Jurisdiction Total Hyderabad R.R. (Part) Total Electors as per SSR, 2008 29,27,553 22,14,265 51,41,818 Total Electors as per Final Publication of Electoral Rolls on 22-01-2009 30,04,998 22,72,841 52,77,839 Total Electors as on 30-03-2009 last date of nomination 31,70,819 24,51,178 56,40,041 Images available as on 22-01-2009 25,41,347 18,66,457 44,07,804 Images available as on 30-03-2009 27,56,711 20,65,224 48,21,935 Percentage of Images as on 30-03-2009 86.94% 84.25% 85.59% Increase in image percentage 2.37% 2.13% 2.25% A Metro-city like Hyderabad has got lot of floating population. People change their residence very frequently and there is general indifference among the people about either their enrolment or to vote. In this scenario, achieving 87% of EPIC coverage and enrolling 3,62,202 new voters in GHMC after the final publication is certainly an achievement.

Citizen friendly initiatives Provision of Drop Boxes. Inclusion of names through Postal Department. E-registration. Issue of EPICs through E-seva Centres. Distribution of EPICs through Certificate of Posting. Booth Level Meetings Conduct of Special Campaign days to create awareness among voters and to check up their entry in the roll. Search mechanism for voters through SMS, Website & Call Centre. Polling personnel were enrolled and EPIC issued at the first training class to enable them to exercise their franchise through postal Ballot Paper.

Drop Boxes For the 1st time in the Country, the concept of ‘Drop Boxes’ was conceived and implemented successfully in the GHMC jurisdiction under the guidance of the Chief Electoral officer of A.P. The GHMC has installed 1185 Nos. of ‘Drop Boxes’ at prominent public places like Shopping Malls, Hotels, Gardens, Public Offices, Libraries etc. This facility has allowed the public to submit their claims in a most convenient manner. Total Claims received were 1,94,027 and out of them 1,49,419 claims were accepted.

Inclusion of names through Postal Department For the 1st time in the Country, the claims were received, enquired and EPICs were distributed through the Postal Department which was immensely successful. After receiving of applications, Postal officials visit the address and enquire the genuineness of the form 6. On completion of the enquiry, the Postal Department officials enter the data, link the photos and send soft copy to ERO. This is to enable ERO to check the duplication, entering the part no, section no, sl no. and to generate EPICs in pdf format. The Postal officials will in turn receives the PDF format and prints EPICs, laminates and dispatch to the Elector. Cost of each EPIC is Rs.70/- which is high and needs a relook when it is implemented through out India. Postal department need to allot sufficient manpower or outsource certain work as there is lot of delay in the above process.

E-Registration Hyderabad is hub of software related activities. Facilities are given to citizens to enroll their names through e-mail by logging to www.ceoandhra.nic.in/e-registation. Verification of claims, scrutiny and preparation of EPICs will done ÓN-LINE’ through a specifically created software issued by the Chief Electoral Officer. This was quite a novel experience and gain accolades from the public. Total claims received from Post Offices and E-Registration was 1,39,030 and 1,03,711 claims were accepted. The EPICs were also generated and distributed door-to-door to the eligible voters. The response of the voters who registered in a large number through E-Registration and Post Offices shows that this facility had saved voters from going to the offices of ERO and to stand in queues.

E-Seva Centres Hyderabad has got Electronic Payment Centers for multiple public utility services like payment of Taxes, Electricity Bills, Telephone Bills etc. This network of “ E-Seva Centers” were used for issuing of Electoral Photo Identity Cards to the voters as well as for making corrections in the EPIC Cards. This system also got instant success in GHMC which was thronged by ample number of voters. Totally 1,25,000 voters have utilized this opportunity and the EPICs were issued within short period (i.e., 09-03-2009 to 15-04-2009). Voter who lost their EPIC also could get a duplicate Card. Service charge of Rs.10/- collected for corrections in EPIC or for obtaining duplicate card.

Distribution of EPICs through Certificate of posting The date of poll was fast approaching and number of undistributed EPICs were with the EROs. The DEO has taken a novel initiative and successfully distributed about 98,000 EPICs generated i.e., through Certificate of Posting by the Postal Department. This has ensured timely delivery of EPICs to the voters and saved valuable time of the EROs.

Conduct of Special Campaign days and Booth Level Meetings Awareness camps were conducted with the help of Booth Level Officers in all the Polling Station limits to facilitate the people to come and check their names in the Electoral Rolls. If their names are not available, then they could apply in Form-6 then and there itself. These special campaign days were made much special by involvement of all political parties. Equal opportunity was given to all Political Parties to make the enrolment process transparent, participating and unbaised.

Search mechanism for voters through SMS, Website & Call Centre One of the major problem encountered by the voter in the metropolitan cities is to find out the location of the polling booth and to know the serial no. in the electoral roll as there is frequent change due to ever increasing size of the electoral roll. In order to help the voters for knowing serial number, polling station no. & polling station building address, a unique facility was provided to know the above details by giving SMS to 56677 by typing CEO <space> EPIC number of the voter Or HNO<space>House No. as per municipal records Another facility is given to search using their name / father name / house number / EPIC number to know their Constituency, Polling Station No. & Serial No. in the Electoral roll through www.ghmc.gov.in, www.ceoandhra.nic.in & www.pollingbooth.in Established a Call Centre with Phone No. 155304 to facilitate search mechanism of voter particulars on 24/7 basis which greatly resolved the voters difficulties in knowing their particulars.

Suggestions on improvement of electoral rolls and election management Lot of errors were reported in EPICs. The work of private operators need to be monitored closely. The job should be on continuous basis. EROs office should be strengthened by the way of increase in Man Power. It is observed that the office of ERO gets activated only during the revision of electoral roll and at the time of elections. This is creating lot of problem for maintaining proper records and many times the photos provided by the voters are misplaced. Voters feel bad if they are asked to provide photos for second time. Continuous Updation of the Electoral Roll should continue even after Elections. CMC software which was prepared for updation of electoral roll was not error free. Specially there was problem of spelling in Telugu names. The software can be made totally error free and more user-friendly. Cont..,

Suggestions on improvement of electoral rolls and election management Voter is not able to use the EPIC for knowing the details of PS or Sl.No. in the electoral roll as they go on changing from election to election. It is at best can be used as an identity card only. In the present system voter can get enrolled any number of times which is leading to duplication. State wise common server can be thought of to avoid this possibility. Action need to be initiated against the voters who get enrolled even though their name is existing at some other place. Action need to be taken on the enumerators who recommend deletion of the names of the genuine voters without proper verification. Even though provisions were there for the above, no action is taken in practice as there is no separate mechanism to pursue these issues.

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