1 CHALLENGES IN MANAGEMENT OF ELECTORAL ROLL Jitendra Kumar Sinha District Election Officer, Patna

2  Electoral Roll : List of voters  Basic document for the conduct of election  Corner stone of any election Electoral Roll

Indian Context  Voters: Minimum age for registration 18 years ( Sec.19, R.P.Act, 1950)  Qualifying Date: 1 st day of January of the year in which the electoral roll is prepared or revised (Sec. 14(b) R.P. Act, 1950)  A person ordinarily residing in a constituency entitled to be registered in the electoral roll. 3

Indian Context (Contd..)  A person not to be enrolled as a voter in more than one place in the same constituency or in more than one constituency (Sec. 17 and 18 of R.P. Act, 1950)  The Electoral Registration Officer (ERO) responsible for the preparation of Electoral Rolls for an Assembly /Parliamentary constituency. 4

Useful forms Various forms useful for registration as voters, corrections, changes in address etc.  For inclusion of namesForm 6  For any objection on inclusion of namesForm 7  For correction of entries in the electoral rollsForm 8  For transposition of entry in electoral rollForm 8A 5

Evolutionary changes  Persistent efforts by the ECI to improve the quality of electoral roll.  Initially no monitorable parameters were defined vis-à-vis the demographic characteristics of the area.  Enumerators appointed on an adhoc basis.  One ERO catered to many assembly segments.  The idea of EPIC card for each voter revolutionary. 6

 Electoral Roll started having the photograph of electors.  Permanent enumerators in the form of BLOs.  One ERO for each assembly segment.  Monitorable and objective parameters judging the logical consistency in the electoral rolls.  Immense interface with information technology. 7 Evolutionary changes (Contd..)

8  Entries of all eligible electors’ names  Removal of all dead, shifted & ineligible voters  Repetition or duplication  Mistakes in entries  Correct photograph  Accessibility  Centralized electoral database with on-line database management system Challenges

9  Safety & security of Roll database  BLOs –Custodians of Roll apart from their departmental duties  Maximization of Photo / EPIC coverage to 100%  Management of Roll / EPIC vendors  Continuous updation /maintenance of Roll  Satisfaction of stakeholders Challenges (Contd...)

10  Enrolment of all eligible electors’ names:  Easier in rural areas  Difficult in urban areas  Focus on the weaker and vulnerable sections of the society.  Special focus on nomadic tribes, pavement dwellers Entries of all eligible electors’ names

11  Verification of persons in the roll- not eligible for being included in the electoral roll.  Identification of shifted electors  Removal of all dead voters  Ensuring that no non-citizen finds a place in the electoral roll. Removal of all dead, shifted & ineligible voters

12  Identification & deletion of repeated/duplicate entries  Duplication of electors within a part – Easy to detect  Duplication of electors within one AC – ERO level  Duplication of electors within a district – District Level  Duplication of electors within the state – centralized database  Centralized database & de-duplication software to help in identifying the duplicate entries in the roll Repetition or Duplication

13  Particulars of the electors to be error free  Spelling of the names of electors, their relations, date of birth, address etc to be error free.  Mistakes in recording of date of birth/age and the correct recording of addresses. Mistake in Entries

14  Mismatch in photographs – change the identity of the electors  Incorrect Photographs- Erosion in credibility of Electoral Roll  Old technique of keeping the image database and electors’ database separately and matching it with EPIC nos. at the time of PER printing had flaws  New system of keeping photos in binary format in the UNICODE electoral roll database has resolved the problem of photo mismatch Correct Photograph

15  For checking of duplicate entries  For generation of online EPICs  For easy accessibility  For transparency  For search query / engine  For shifting / migratory electors  For its broad based use Centralized electoral database with on-line database management system

16  To verify the identity of the electors  To stop bogus voting  The challenge - Having 100% photo coverage of the electors.  To collect the actual recent photograph of each and every elector against his details.  Generation of EPICs against collected Photographs  Distribution of EPICs to all non-residual electors Maximization of Photo/EPIC Coverage to 100%

17  Easy availability in the public domain  Online Database  Search Facility  Call Centres  Kiosks Accessibility

18  Any online & easily accessible database requires stringent safety  Safety at the frontend- at the user end  Safety at the backend- at the server end  Replication of database at various levels /points – for its retrieval due to damage / loss  Safety of cables / leased lines  Digital signatures for access to database Safety & Security of Roll database

19  BLOs – Mostly staff of various departments like Revenue, Rural Development, Education etc.  Most effective mechanism for cleaning of rolls  Primarily engaged in their departmental duties  Custodians of Roll  During Revision Period- Deputed to the ECI BLOs-Custodians of Roll apart from their department duties

20  Role of vendors – important in preparation of roll / EPICs  Selection – on the basis of technical capability & infrastructure  Regular training by SLA  Constant supervision & regular monitoring Management of Roll/EPIC Vendors

21  Cleaning of roll- not one time business  Addition of new electors  Deletion of dead / shifted electors  Modification of entries due to change of address  Change of photographs Continuous updation/ maintenance of Roll

22  The biggest challenge  Satisfaction of electors as error free document  Satisfaction of political parties as clean roll  Satisfaction of media as credible document  Satisfaction of electoral machinery as reliable document Satisfaction of stakeholders

23  Permanent cadre of election officers down up to booth level :  To enhance the accountability  To enhance the sense of ownership of the electoral documents  With tremendous infusion of IT into the preparation and maintenance of electoral roll, permanent data centers at district, sub division and block level manned with people having IT skills as well as the technical knowledge of the elections required Suggestions

24 THANKS