Telangana: Voter List To Get Real-Time Death Data
Telangana CEO pushes digitised voter rolls, Aadhaar link-up talks begin
Hyderabad: In a novel initiative to modernise electoral roll management, the Telangana Chief Electoral Office (CEO) is intensifying efforts to digitise and automate voter list maintenance by sourcing death registration data directly from local bodies, including municipalities and municipal corporations.
Simultaneously, consultations are underway with state units and officials regarding the optional seeding of Aadhaar with voter ID cards, as part of a broader initiative being considered by the Election Commission of India (ECI).
Telangana Chief Electoral Officer C. Sudharshan Reddy said on Saturday that both initiatives — the Aadhaar-voter ID linkage and integration of death registrations — were currently at the discussion stage. “Linking Aadhaar remains optional and is not compulsory,” he clarified. Reddy said the linking of death records aims to ensure timely and automatic deletion of deceased individuals from the electoral rolls.
The move follows a recent initiative launched by the ECI under Rule 9 of the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960, and Section 3(5)(b) of the Registration of Births and Deaths Act, 1969, which was amended in 2023.
Under the new provision, electoral registration officers (EROs) can access death registration data digitally to proactively update the electoral rolls, without waiting for individual applications through Form 7. Booth level officers (BLOs) will verify these records through field-level checks to confirm the authenticity of the entries before deletion.
To streamline the process, the state electoral office is engaging with government officials from the village to the state level. The goal is to enable seamless integration of death data, from gram panchayats to municipal corporations, with the electoral database. Once this linkage is fully operational, voter IDs of the deceased will be automatically flagged and marked for deletion. BLOs will play a key role in monitoring and validating the data during field verification.
In parallel, the CEO highlighted that Aadhaar data may also serve as a useful reference for correcting voter details. “Spelling mistakes in names, addresses, and other data can be corrected based on Aadhaar by visiting Mee Seva centres and submitting valid documents,” he said. The initiative is expected to help streamline the voter registration process and improve data accuracy.
As part of logistical planning for the upcoming Assembly elections in five states—Assam, Bihar, West Bengal, Kerala and Tamil Nadu—the Election Commission will relocate Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) used in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana to these states.
