A nationwide SIR: the need to check double entries in the electoral list, Pg11

Key Highlights:

• The Election Commission of India (EC) has announced a nationwide Special Intensive Revision (SIR 2.0) of electoral rolls, following criticism of the Bihar SIR exercise.
• The aim of SIR 2.0 is to create a paperless, people-friendly, and procedurally robust system for managing nearly one billion voter entries.
• A key challenge is addressing the issue of duplicate voter entries, which occur when citizens shift residences.
• The Representation of the People (RP) Act, 1950 provides the legal framework for maintaining the integrity of electoral rolls and preventing duplication.

Detailed Insights:

• Duplicate entries often arise unintentionally when voters relocate and their names are added to a new electoral roll without being deleted from the previous one.
• Under the RP Act, 1950, Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) are responsible for accurately and promptly transposing, including, and deleting voter information to prevent duplication.
• Form 8 is used for transposition or correction of entries, with changes of address requests categorized into four types, the most frequent cause of double entries being relocation to another State.
• ECINet, a digital system managed by C-DAC, Pune, is the backbone of India’s electoral roll, using unique EPIC numbers to identify voters and detect duplicates.
• SIR 2.0 should focus on software-led validation, digital audit trails, and real-time corrections, with seamless integration with Aadhaar for independent verification.

Key Concepts Involved:

• Electoral Roll: A list of persons eligible to vote in an election.
• Electors Photo Identity Card (EPIC): A unique identification card issued to registered voters.
• Representation of the People Act, 1950: Legislation that governs the conduct of elections in India.
• Aadhaar: A 12-digit unique identity number issued to all Indian residents.