Page 6 - Election Commission Of India

Why the Supreme Court is right to question ECI's voter review in Bihar

The court has correctly stepped in to point out that, under the law as written, a unique ID must be accepted as proof of identity, more so as the ECI plans a countrywide SIR

ECI may launch nationwide electoral roll revision in October: Report

The official announcement for the Special Intensive Revision may be made before polling in Bihar concludes, according to an India Today report

EC top brass reviews pan-India SIR preparedness with state poll machinery

A crucial meeting of the Election Commission with its state officials is underway to discuss preparations for a pan-India roll out of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. While senior EC officials are expected to make a presentation on the SIR policy of the Commission, the chief electoral officer of Bihar would share the state's experience in implementing SIR. This is the third meeting of CEOs after Gyanesh Kumar took over as the chief election commissioner in February. However, Wednesday's day-long meeting assumes significance as the preparedness of a pan-India SIR are being discussed, officials said. The Commission has said that after Bihar, SIR will be carried out in the entire country. There are indications that the exercise would commence later this year ahead of assembly elections in Assam, Kerala, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal in 2026. The primary aim of the intensive revision is to weed out foreign illegal migrants by checking their place of ..

Accept Aadhaar card as 12th document: EC tells Bihar poll authority

The Election Commission has asked its Bihar poll machinery to accept Aadhaar card as an additional document to establish the identity of electors following the Supreme Court's directives. In a letter to the state Chief Electoral Officer on Tuesday, the Commission said "The Aadhaar card shall be treated as the 12th document, in addition to the 11 documents listed..." The EC made it clear that the Aadhaar card is to be accepted and utilised as a "proof of identity and not as a proof of citizenship", in terms of Section 9 of the Aadhaar (Delivery of Financial And Other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Act. Under Section 23(4) of the Representation of People Act, 1950, the Aadhaar Card is already one of the documents enumerated for the purpose of establishing the identity of a person. The poll panel also cautioned that "any instance of non-compliance or refusal to accept Aadhaar in accordance with this directive shall be treated with utmost seriousness". The Supreme Court on Monday .

Priyank Kharge seeks court-monitored audit, hackathon of EVM-VVPAT process

Karnataka's Minister for Information Technology Priyank Kharge has said that the state is ready to host a transparent evaluation of the entire EVMVVPAT process in partnership with judicial and industry oversight. Kharge had posted a copy of the letter he had written to the Election Commission of India again on September 6 on the social media platform X on Monday. In his letter, Kharge said he had written to the ECI on December 3, 2024, as well, outlining concerns regarding the function of EVMs and related procedural vulnerabilities, and suggesting a "constructive solution" in the form of a court-monitored ethical hackathon and audit, backed by the state. "With our strong technology and R&D ecosystem, I had proposed that Karnataka is well placed to carry out such a transparent exercise under judicial and industry oversight to rigorously test the EVM architecture and address public perception issues around electoral integrity," read the letter. He also said that on several ...

Shashi Tharoor calls EC's SIR exercise 'essential', urges transparency

Tharoor stressed that maintaining the credibility of the Election Commission was crucial and that any legitimate concerns raised by the opposition should be addressed fairly

EC to review nationwide voters list revision with state election officials

The Election Commission top brass will discuss the preparedness of pan-India rollout of special intensive revision of voters' list with its state representatives next week, officials said Saturday. The poll authority has convened a meeting of its state chief electoral officers on Wednesday, officials said. This is the third meeting of CEOs after Gyanesh Kumar took over as the chief election commissioner in February. But the September 10 meeting assumes significance as the preparedness of a pan-India special intensive revision will be discussed, officials said. The Commission has said that after Bihar, the special revision will be carried out in the entire country. There are indications that the exercise would commence later this year ahead of assembly elections in Assam, Kerala, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal in 2026. The primary aim of the intensive revision is to weed out foreign illegal migrants by checking their place of birth. The move assumes significance in the wa

Bengal CEO holds internal talks ahead of Election Commission meet in Delhi

In the run-up to a crucial meeting with Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar next week, West Bengal CEO Manoj Kumar Agarwal is set to hold internal discussions with officials concerned on the state's electoral preparedness on Saturday and Monday, a source in the poll panel said. The Election Commission of India (ECI) has "shown interest in replicating" Bihar's special intensive revision of electoral rolls in other states and the proactive steps are being viewed as "introductions to electoral readiness", he said. "The execution of the special intensive revision (SIR) in Bihar has garnered nationwide attention, with other states reportedly looking to learn from its approach. "Ahead of the Delhi meeting, the CEO's office is organising two rounds of consultations focused on the SIR and electoral preparedness. The first of these meetings will be an internal review on Saturday and then a comprehensive statewide assessment on Monday," the source told PTI. During these sessions, ...

Claims, objections to Bihar draft rolls allowed after Sept 1: EC to SC

The Election Commission told the Supreme Court that claims and objections to Bihar's draft electoral rolls will be accepted beyond the September 1 deadline, up to the last date of nominations

Bihar SIR: Claims, objections can be filed beyond Sept 1, EC tells SC

The Election Commission of India on Monday said claims, objections and corrections in the draft electoral roll prepared in Bihar special intensive revision (SIR) exercise can be filed beyond September 1 but the same would be considered once the electoral roll was finalised. A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi noted the submission of the Election Commission (EC) which said claims and objections could be filed till the last date of nomination forms in each assembly constituency. The top court while terming the confusion over the Bihar SIR as largely trust issue, directed the state legal service authority to deploy paralegal volunteers to assist individual voters and political parties in filling claims and objections to the draft roll, which was published on August 1. Senior advocate Rakesh Dwivedi, appearing for EC, said, Any extension of deadline will lead to disruption of the entire exercise and finalisation of final electoral roll. The poll panel further said 99.5 p

Bihar SIR: 200K pleas for removal and 33K for inclusion in voter list

The month-long period to demand inclusion or deletion of names from the electoral rolls of Bihar ends on Monday, with more than 33,000 electors filing pleas to add their names to the list. Over 2 lakh demands have been made by individuals seeking removal of names they claim have been wrongfully included in the draft rolls. The draft electoral rolls were published on August 1 and will remain open for "claims and objections" by individuals and political parties till September 1. People and parties have the right under election law to challenge inclusion of names who they think are ineligible. Similarly, people who think they are eligible but have been left out of the draft list can seek inclusion. The final electoral roll for Bihar, which will go to polls likely in November, will be published on September 30. The booth-level agents appointed by the political parties have so far filed 25 claims for inclusion and 103 for exclusion from the draft list. On Monday, the Supreme Court wil

Bihar polls: 8.9 million SIR complaints rejected by EC, says Congress

Senior Congress leader Pawan Khera on Sunday claimed that a staggering 89 lakh complaints of irregularities were flagged by the party's Booth Level Agents (BLAs) in Bihar during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, but all were rejected by the Election Commission. Alleging that the irregularities cast a doubt on the intention of the EC, Khera demanded that the entire exercise be conducted again. The EC keeps getting news planted through its sources that no complaints are coming from any political party. The truth is that the Congress submitted 89 lakh complaints pertaining to irregularities in the SIR to the EC, chairman of the media and publicity department of the Congress said in a press conference. When our BLAs went to file complaints, their complaints were turned down by the EC. The EC categorically told our BLAs that complaints could be accepted by individuals only, not by political parties, Khera claimed.

Akhilesh Yadav calls ECI 'Jugaad Commission' of BJP during Bihar visit

Earlier on Friday, the Voter Adhikar Yatra reached Bihar's Siwan, with both the Congress and RJD leaders being greeted by large crowds

SC to hear plea to extend Sept 1 deadline for Bihar SIR claim filing

The Supreme Court on Friday agreed to hear on September 1 pleas of the RJD and AIMIM seeking extension of deadline for filing of claims and objections in the special intensive revision of electoral rolls in poll-bound Bihar. The deadline for filing claims and objections is also September 1. A bench of Justices Surya Kant, Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi said it will hear the applications of the political parties on Monday after advocate Prashant Bhushan and senior advocate Shoeb Alam, appearing for the Rashtriya Janta Dal (RJD), said that several of them have filed applications for extension of deadlines. Advocate Nizam Pasha, appearing for the AIMIM, said time needs to be extended due to large scale filing of claims and objections. "The number of claims filed are exponentially rising. The deadline needs to be extended," Alam told the bench. Pasha submitted that 80,000 claims were filed before the August 22 order while post the order 95,000 claims have been filed. "We are ..

People's response to 'Voter Adhikar Yatra' in Bihar leaves PM shaken: Rahul

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday claimed that the response to the party's ongoing Voter Adhikar Yatra' in Bihar has left Prime Minister Narendra Modi "shaken". Addressing Samvidhan Suraksha Sammelan during Congress's Voter Adhikar Yatra in Motihari, he said a countrywide caste census will give 90 per cent of people their rightful dues. I am accusing the PM of vote chori daily, but why is he maintaining a stoic silence? Because he has been caught; he is exposed now. People's response to the Voter Adhikar Yatra in Bihar has left the PM shaken, Gandhi asserted. The Election Commission added 1 crore new voters in Maharashtra after the Lok Sabha polls last year, he said. When we asked for the voter list, the EC refused because the EC did it on the directions of the PM and the BJP, the leader of the opposition in Lok Sabha alleged. The BJP and the EC repeated the same process in Karnataka, the former Congress president said. Even small children are calling BJP leaders vote chor

Names of 6.5 mn poor deleted from Bihar's electoral rolls: Rahul Gandhi

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday claimed that the names of 65 lakh people, who are poor and belong to socially weaker sections, have been deleted from the electoral rolls of Bihar. Addressing a rally in Sitamarhi as part of the 'Voter Adhikar Yatra', Gandhi said the people of Bihar would not allow the BJP and Election Commission to "rob" them of their right to vote. "We have exposed the BJP and the EC, who were indulging in stealing votes... They did it in Maharashtra, Haryana and Karnataka. Now they want to repeat it in Bihar, which we will not allow them to do," he said. Gandhi claimed he would provide more evidence of what he termed "vote chori" in the coming months. Ahead of the rally, he visited the famed Janaki Temple in the area and offered prayers. Bihar will go to the polls later this year.

Datanomics: Bihar SIR may shrink voters' strength to 55% of population

EC data shows 6.5 million names on exclusion list, pulling electorate below pre-Covid levels

Rahul questions EC on ₹4,300 cr donations to 'anonymous parties' in Gujarat

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday cited a media report which claimed that some "anonymous parties" in Gujarat received donations of Rs 4,300 crore between 2019-20 and 2023-24, and asked whether the Election Commission will investigate this or ask for an affidavit. There was no immediate reaction from the Election Commission (EC). Gandhi, the leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha, shared on X the media report which claimed that in Gujarat, 10 anonymously registered political parties received Rs 4,300 crore in donations from 2019-20 to 2023-24. During this period, across three elections -- 2019 and 2024 Lok Sabha polls and 2022 assembly polls -- these parties fielded only 43 candidates who together secured 54,069 votes, according to the report. Their election reports showed expenses of just Rs 39.02 lakh, while audit reports recorded Rs 3,500 crore in spending, the report said. In a post in Hindi on X, Gandhi said, "There are some anonymous parties in Gujarat whose names no

EC, BJP in partnership; SIR institutionalised theft of votes: Rahul

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday charged the Election Commission with having a "partnership" with the ruling BJP at the Centre, and vowed to thwart "institutionalised theft of votes" in the guise of special intensive revision of electoral rolls in Bihar. A week into the fortnight-long 'Voter Adhikar Yatra', Gandhi also seemed delighted at the response, claiming that people were taking part "organically, without being asked to do so", and that the slogan 'vote chor, gaddi chhod' (vote thief, vacate your seat of power) was now on the lips of "even six-year-old children". The Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha wound up the second leg of the yatra, which will now resume on Tuesday, with a press conference in Araria district, where he reached from adjoining Purnea in an impromptu motorcycle rally. The Congress leader deftly side-stepped a pointed question about the reluctance to declare RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, seated by his side, as the chief ministerial candidate even though

Leaders claiming vote theft are consoling themselves over loss: CM Fadnavis

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Sunday said leaders alleging vote theft were doing so to provide solace to their workers for their defeat in polls instead of introspecting about their loss. Fadnavis's remark has come after Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray on Saturday said that he had been talking about "vote theft" since 2016, and the Election Commission should have conducted a probe when both Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and the BJP's Anurag Thakur alleged voter list fraud. Speaking to reporters, Fadnavis, in a veiled jibe, said, "Poet Ghalib once said 'Dil behelana ke liye khayal acha hain' (to console the heart, this thought is good). I want to say that they (leaders) are trying to provide solace to themselves and their workers by claiming there was a conspiracy behind their defeat in elecctions. But I want to tell them that they must introspect about their defeat, or they will never win." Asked about Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge's statement