Shillong, May 15: Political parties on Friday raised concerns regarding dual voter registration, illegal immigration, and voter enumeration in border areas during a meeting convened by the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) on the upcoming Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral roll in Meghalaya. Representatives of various political parties attended the meeting, where officials briefed them on the revision process and documentation requirements.
Speaking after the meeting, United Democratic Party (UDP) vice president Allantry F. Dkhar said the party sought clarification on several aspects of the exercise, which was last conducted in 2005. “We were concerned about the terms and conditions of the Special Intensive Revision. The CEO and his team explained the entire process related to Meghalaya,” Dkhar said.
He stated that the UDP’s major concerns were related to border areas and cases of dual voter registration across inter-state boundaries. “Our concerns were the border areas and also certain areas, especially the issue of dual registration across the inter-state and also illegal immigrants who have managed to inhabit parts of the state,” he said.
According to Dkhar, election officials assured political parties that adequate measures are being taken to ensure transparency and prevent doubtful entries in the electoral roll. “The state election commission’s team has shown through a presentation that efforts are being made to ensure there are no doubtful voters and no non-citizens included in the electoral roll,” he added.
He further informed that the UDP would appoint Booth Level Agents (BLAs) to closely monitor the process at the grassroots level. “We will keep a close watch on how the exercise is conducted and appoint BLAs from our respective parties. We hope this exercise will help ensure that only genuine voters remain in the electoral roll,” Dkhar said.
Meanwhile, a National People’s Party (NPP) leader who attended the meeting said the party raised concerns regarding acceptable documents for voter verification. “They briefed us about the SIR process and the documents required. We raised concerns regarding local authority certificates,” the NPP leader said.
The leader stated that the CEO clarified that certificates issued by traditional headmen are not accepted by the Election Commission of India (ECI) as valid documents. “He clarified that certificates issued by headmen are not accepted. However, documents such as Scheduled Tribe certificates have been sent to Delhi and the central government for clarification, and the CEO is yet to receive a response,” the leader added.
