Editorial: Order to make voter registration campaign more transparent

The Supreme Court's order to accept Aadhaar card as proof of residence during the Special In-depth Verification (SIR) campaign of electoral rolls in Bihar is a positive step. With this order, the number of documents, any one of which is considered as proof of the correct identity of a voter, has increased to 12.

The Supreme Court had issued a preliminary order on August 25 to use Aadhaar card as proof of identity and to recognize the right of Aadhaar holders to vote on this basis, but after complaints raised by the petitioners that the Bihar office of the Election Commission was not implementing this order in a uniform manner, a new order was issued on Monday regarding Aadhaar card. A division bench of Justice Surya Kant and Justice Jyoti Mallya Bagchi clarified that although Aadhaar card is not a proof of Indian citizenship, it is definitely a proof of being a resident of India.

However, it is a document whose authenticity or fakeness can be verified very quickly. Therefore, it is not unreasonable to consider it as proof of being a resident of the concerned ward or constituency. The Division Bench empowered the Election Commission of India to verify whether the Aadhaar card is genuine or fake in case of doubt and if the card is found to be fake, then criminal action should be taken against the concerned person.

It is worth mentioning that the process of detailed verification of electoral rolls (SIR) in Bihar has been a subject of controversy since June. Almost all the opposition parties have united against this process. Their claim has been that on the pretext of SIR, a conspiracy was hatched by the Bharatiya Janata Party to exclude the names of supporters of other parties from the electoral rolls and the Election Commission of India is a partner in this conspiracy.

The slogan of ‘vote theft’ is the product of this slander. On the other hand, the Election Commission has been justifying its move on the grounds that the last in-depth scrutiny of the electoral rolls in Bihar was in 2003. It is a mandatory provision of the Representation of the People Act to conduct such a scrutiny once in 20 years. The campaign was launched in Bihar because the assembly elections are to be held there first (in November this year). The campaign is to be launched in other states as well, but priority will be given to those states whose legislatures are ending their terms next year.

There should have been no excuse for the decisions of the Election Commission, but in Bihar, the secrecy surrounding the SIR campaign and the limited time frame announced for activities like drawing up new votes, scrutinising existing voter lists, deleting names of deceased or migrated voters, etc., have fuelled the opposition’s suspicions of ‘vote theft’. The Election Commission used the 2003 electoral rolls as the basis for the verification of voters. Those whose names were included in those rolls remained registered as voters. Those who became voters after 2003 were asked to produce first 10 and then 11 documents as proof of citizenship and residence.

This was done on the basis of suspicions that after 2003, the illegal influx of Bangladeshis and Rohingya refugees increased significantly in Bihar and despite not being Indian citizens, they got voter cards, Aadhaar cards, ration cards etc. made. For this reason, documents like birth certificates etc. were asked from them as verification. In view of the distrust between the Election Commission and several opposition parties including the Congress, it was natural and legal that the SIR campaign would face political challenges.

The Supreme Court, while hearing about half a dozen petitions, upheld the Election Commission's right to conduct a special rectification (SIR) drive, but directed it to increase the number of 'authentic documents' and to recognise the inclusion of Aadhaar card in them. The apex court was of the opinion that the rectification drive should not create a perception that voters are being deliberately excluded from the electoral rolls.

Although it became clear during the hearing in the same court that the allegations of widespread 'vote theft' are not true, the issue of lack of transparency during the rectification exercise came to the fore. Now, after the Aadhaar card order, it is hoped that the illusions and slanders will be curbed and the electoral process will become more transparent. Indian democracy also needs such cleanliness and transparency.

(For more news apart from “PM Announces Rs. 1600 Crore For Punjab In Addition To Rs 12,000 Crore Already In The State’s Kitty,” stay tuned to Rozana Spokesman.)