Supreme Court Seeks Clarity From Election Commission On Voter Roll Issues

way2barak, Jan 15: The Supreme Court of India has directed the Election Commission of India to address significant discrepancies and transparency concerns in the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.

The Court’s intervention follows reports of anomalies in voter counts in Uttar Pradesh and the exclusion of names from draft rolls in Kerala, as well as policy decisions affecting voter verification in West Bengal.

Supreme Court asked the Election Commission today to explain a discrepancy highlighted by Barabanki MP Tanuj Punia. The MP submitted that the number of rural voters in Uttar Pradesh, as per the State Election Commission’s SIR, exceeded the total number of voters in the state as recorded by the Election Commission of India’s SIR. The Court noted that these figures could not logically coexist and requested the Commission to clarify which count was accurate and the basis for the figures.

In the same hearing, Supreme Court directed the Election Commission to publish the names of voters deleted from the draft electoral rolls in Kerala. The Court also suggested extending the deadline for filing objections by those excluded, in order to ensure that affected individuals have a fair opportunity to contest their removal from the rolls.