Daijiworld Media Network - Panaji

Panaji, Sep 24: Ninety-seven voters in Goa who were examined and found eligible by Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) were left out of the final electoral roll despite repeated requests from the state's Chief Electoral Officer to the Election Commission of India (ECI).

According to an investigation by The Indian Express, the Goa CEO's office sent eight emails between February 11 and 17 seeking a rollback facility in the ECINet system so that the earlier deletions could be reversed and the 97 voters included in the final roll. The requests were described as urgent, but the required action was not completed before the final roll was published on February 21.

The 97 voters had initially been flagged for what the election authorities termed “logical discrepancies” in their electoral records. Following directions issued by the Supreme Court, the voters were given an opportunity to submit documents and objections. After examining their cases, Goa's EROs concluded that the 97 were eligible to be included in the final electoral roll.

However, the EROs were unable to reverse the earlier deletions through ECINet because the required rollback option was not available at their level. Goa's CEO Sanjay Goel told The Indian Express that the state had apprised the ECI about the cases and said there should be a mechanism in ECINet for EROs to re-include eligible voters.

The issue was also raised by Deputy Election Commissioner Sanjay Kumar, who told the ECI's IT officials that the system should not prevent necessary action by EROs in compliance with the Supreme Court's directions. Despite the communications, the 97 names did not appear in the final roll.

The omission has significance beyond voting rights because certain Goa government schemes use electoral-roll status to establish eligibility. The Goa Mediclaim Scheme, which provides financial assistance for super-speciality treatments such as dialysis, angioplasty, open-heart surgery, transplants and chemotherapy, is available to eligible voters of the state.

Sixty-five of the 97 voters are from Taleigao, while the others belong to St Cruz, Cumbarjua, Priol, Margao, Benaulim and Velim assembly constituencies. Following the omission, some affected voters were reportedly advised by field officials to apply afresh using Form 6, the application form for new voters.

The case has also drawn attention to the role of centralised technology in the electoral-roll process. The Indian Express reported that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had raised objections on several occasions over the centralisation of ECINet and the role of state-level election officials.