The Election Commission on Saturday said that political parties or individuals who had concerns about electoral rolls prepared in the past should have raised them during the claims and objections period.

The poll body did not name any political party or person in the statement.

It added that if problems with the voter rolls had been flagged “at the right time through the right channels”, any “genuine” mistakes would have been corrected by the sub-divisional magistrate or electoral registration officer.

“It seems that some political parties and their booth-level agents did not examine the electoral rolls at the appropriate time and did not point out errors, if any, to [the sub-divisional magistrate, electoral registration officer, district election officer or chief electoral officer],” the commission said in a statement.

On August 7, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said that his party had spent six months examining the electoral rolls in Mahadevapura Assembly segment of the Bengaluru Central Lok Sabha constituency and found discrepancies in more than one lakh names.

He alleged that this was evidence of the Election Commission having colluded with the Bharatiya Janata Party.

In its statement on Saturday, the commission said political parties were now raising concerns outside the designated process.

“After the publication of the draft electoral rolls, digital and physical copies of the same are shared with all political parties and put on the [Election Commission] website for anyone to see,” the poll body said. “Following the publication of the draft [electoral roll], a full one-month period is available with the electors and political parties for the filing of claims and objections before the final [roll] is published.”

It added: “Following the publication of the final [electoral roll], a two-tiered process of appeals is available.”

Electoral rolls undergo an annual summary revision with a qualifying date of January 1, when citizens turning 18 become eligible voters. Draft rolls are published, followed by a claims and objections period lasting several weeks in which parties and voters can challenge inclusions or exclusions. Final rolls are published by January 31, giving parties multiple opportunities each year to scrutinise and correct the data through established legal channels.

It is likely it was these rolls that the Election Commission was referring to, though it did not specify this in its statement.

The commission also announced it will hold a press conference at 3 pm on Sunday.

The press conference will coincide with the Congress’ launch of a statewide protest in poll-bound Bihar against alleged voter fraud during the special intensive revision of voter rolls, which has led to the exclusion of around 65 lakh names from the draft list.

📰 Crime Today News is proudly sponsored by DRYFRUIT & CO – A Brand by eFabby Global LLC

Design & Developed by Yes Mom Hosting