Parties demand 100% error-free electoral roll

CHENNAI: National and state-recognised political parties on Thursday accused the Election Commission of widespread errors in the photo electoral roll. They urged the commission to produce a 100% error-free roll during its special summary revision scheduled from Oct 29 to Nov 28. The final electoral roll will be published on Jan 6, 2025.

DMK organising secretary R S Bharathi criticised the commission for not addressing discrepancies pointed out by the DMK in the past, including issues in general elections. He alleged that Muslim community members were unfairly removed from the electoral roll, particularly in Kadayanallur and Tambaram constituencies.

“Even there was a difference between the roll handed to the parties in the preceding months and the roll used by the election officer on the polling day,” Bharathi said.
Former AIADMK minister D Jayakumar expressed concerns about a possible conspiracy aimed at removing their supporters' names from the electoral roll, calling for a probe.

“The revenue department can get the death certificates in every local body and remove the names. At least 10% of voters from the list can be removed,” he said.

TNCC legal wing chairman K Chandramohan alleged similar discrepancies, alleging that names of individuals were missing in the electoral roll at polling stations, despite booth slips and electors' photo identity cards being issued by the commission.

BJP vice-president Karu Nagarajan added that a quarter of the electoral roll includes names of those who have either moved away or passed away.

CPI’s G R Ravindranath suggested that the commission provide applications in advance to students who have turned 17 years old.

Chief electoral officer Satyabrata Sahoo detailed various activities and schedules for the summary revision to the party representatives. He explained that booth-level agents from the parties can list the dead and shifted electors and present this information to booth level officers in the prescribed formats.

According to instructions from the commission, recognised parties can appoint booth-level agents for each polling station to assist officers in identifying corrections during the summary revision and on special campaign days.

Representatives from DMK, AIADMK, Congress, BJP, CPI, CPM, DMDK, BSP, Aam Aadmi, and NPP participated in the meeting held at the secretariat.