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Punjab Electoral Officer Urges Parties to Appoint Booth-Level Agents for Voter Roll Revision

Punjab Chief Electoral Officer Anindita Mitra held a meeting with political parties to urge appointment of booth-level agents for the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls. The agents will ensure transparency and smooth conduct of the revision process, with training alongside booth-level officers. Door-to-door visits by 24,453 booth-level officers will occur from June 25 to July 24 to fill voter forms. The exercise aims to include eligible citizens and delete ineligible persons from voter lists.

Key Points: Punjab Electoral Officer Urges Booth-Level Agents for Voter Roll Revision

  • Political parties urged to appoint booth-level agents for transparency
  • Door-to-door visits from June 25 to July 24 for voter forms
  • 24,453 booth-level officers deployed across Punjab
  • Duplicate votes punishable by up to one year imprisonment
2 min read

Punjab electoral officer asks parties to appoint booth-level agents for SIR transparency

Chief Electoral Officer Anindita Mitra asks political parties to appoint booth-level agents for Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls in Punjab, ensuring transparency.

"Booth-level agents would play an extremely crucial role throughout the Special Intensive Revision process. - Anindita Mitra"

Chandigarh, May 15

With the Election Commission of India initiating the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls in Punjab, Chief Electoral Officer Anindita Mitra on Friday held a meeting with representatives of registered and recognised political parties and urged them to appoint booth-level agents to ensure transparency and smooth conduct of the revision process.

At the meeting, the Chief Electoral Officer stressed that booth-level agents would play an extremely crucial role throughout the Special Intensive Revision process. Hence, the registered and recognised political parties should complete their appointments without any delay.

She said the timely deployment of booth-level agents would facilitate their training alongside booth-level officers, while ensuring regular information sharing at every stage of the exercise to maintain complete transparency.

Besides, she also asked political parties to expedite the appointment process of booth-level agent-I.

Mitra said that throughout the Special Intensive Revision process, the office of the Chief Electoral Officer will remain in continuous coordination with political parties.

The political parties were also briefed about the right to vote.

She said under the Special Intensive Revision, booth-level officers will conduct door-to-door visits from June 25 to July 24 to help fill voter forms.

For this exercise, the entire election machinery has been deployed, including 24,453 booth-level officers, 2,476 supervisors, 117 Electoral Registration Officers, and 234 Assistant Electoral Registration Officers.

She further said training of booth-level officers and other preparatory arrangements related to the Special Intensive Revision exercise will be carried out from June 15 to 24.

She said the objective of the exercise is to ensure inclusion of every eligible citizen in the electoral rolls and deletion of ineligible persons from the voter list.

The Chief Electoral Officer said that holding duplicate votes is an offence under the Constitution and is punishable by up to one year's imprisonment.

Mitra further said that 89.58 per cent of the mapping has already been completed in rural areas of the state, while 73 per cent has been completed in urban areas.

She also said a Special Intensive Revision had earlier been conducted in Punjab in 2003, and the current Special Intensive Revision exercise is being undertaken on the basis of that revision.

- IANS

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Reader Comments

S
Sneha F
This is a good move by the Election Commission but we've seen similar initiatives before and the ground reality is different. The main challenge is training these agents and ensuring they don't become tools for parties to manipulate the rolls. However, the 89% mapping in rural areas is impressive! 😊 Hopefully the Chief Electoral Officer follows through with continuous coordination as mentioned.
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James A
Interesting approach from India. Having party agents at the booth level to monitor voter registration is a practical transparency measure. I'm curious if similar methods could work in other countries. Setting aside geopolitical concerns, it makes sense to involve political parties directly in the process rather than leaving them to complain later about irregularities.
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Priya S
One thing that bothers me is that they mention "deletion of ineligible persons" but what about those whose names were wrongly deleted in the past? In 2021, many voters in Punjab had their names removed without proper notice. If the ECI truly wants transparency, they should also allow people to easily verify if they are still on the rolls. Let's see how this revision pans out! 🙏
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Naveen S
Bahut achha initiative hai! The last special revision in Punjab was back in 2003, so it's about time. With 24,453 booth-level officers deployed, this is a massive scale of operation. I hope the door-to-door visits are conducted properly, especially in rural areas where people may not be aware of the process. Political parties should definitely cooperate without any ado.
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Michael C
The idea of booth-level agents to ensure transparency is commendable, but I'm skeptical about implementation. Political parties

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