Election Commission thought that 29-year-old was dead
Chennai: A 29-year-old man of Villivakkam had the shock of his life on Monday when he found the reason for his name missing from the electoral rolls. The Election Commission thought he was dead! It was only when verification personnel showed up at L. Bhadusha’s doorstep on Bharathi Nagar Second Street demanding a death certificate did he figure out that something was amiss. “I was not at home and had left for work when the verifying authority came home. My mother was shocked to hear him say that he wanted to see my death certificate to confirm the deletion from the rolls,” Bhadusha said.
The gaffe happened despite Bhadusha possessing a valid voter identity card. “Earlier this year, during a purification drive, I found that my name along with one of my uncles did not figure on the list. The election official, who had come home took a copy of my Aadhaar and voter ID. I was told that the mistake would be corrected when the revised rolls would be published,” he said.
His next encounter with an election official was on Monday with the latter wanting proof of his death. “Again, the person took a copy of my Aadhaar and voter ID to enter correction in the Form 7. I have now been asked to visit the corporation zonal office to enter my name in the rolls,” he added. Commenting on the case, district election officer Vikram Kapur said, “It could have been a genuine mistake on the part of the BLO. That is why electoral returning officers take all precautions before deleting any names, such as getting a valid death certificate. In any case, if any voter finds his or her name missing from published rolls, he/she can always apply afresh in form 6 to the ERO any time. This facility is also available online.”
In April and May this year, the Election Commission was forced to issue notifications to clarify after reports emerged that election officials were deleting entries from the rolls on non-provision of Aadhaar number.
Submit death certificate for name removal: CEO
Responding to DMK treasurer M.K. Stalin’s allegations, Tamil Nadu Chief Electoral Officer Sandeep Saxena clarified on Monday that any erroneous deletion of entries would be the sole responsibility of the ERO/AERO/BLO concerned. “In order to remove one’s entry citing death, the relatives of the person should confirm the death and submit death certificate.”
Saxena added that the draft electoral rolls would be published in October and that missed out entries and errors could be corrected in the time-frame before the final rolls are published in January 2016.
At a meeting at Cuddalore, Mr Stalin had alleged that the election commission was targeting and deleting electoral roll entries of his party cadre. On holding by-poll to fill the vacancy caused by former HR & CE minister Chendur Pandian’s death, Saxena said that it was for the Election Commission to decide.