Tamil Nadu SIR: EC Initiates Action Against 10 Lakh People Over Error In Roll Revision, Seeks Explanation; What Voters Can Do Now?

Tamil Nadu SIR: The Election Commission of India (ECI) issued notices to 10 lakh voters in Tamil Nadu for failing to provide accurate or complete information during the recently concluded Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, seeking explanations.

The poll commission sought additional documents to ensure that eligible voters are not excluded from the final voter list. The move comes days after the election body recently concluded the SIR in the state. The Tamil Nadu SIR was conducted between November 4 and December 14. As part of the exercise, the Election Commission undertook a comprehensive verification of voter data to identify cases of death, duplicate registrations, untraceable voters and those who had permanently relocated.

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What To Do If You Are One 10 Lakh Voters?

You can apply online and offline as well. According to the circular, if voters apply online for Permanent Residence or Nativity Certificates, the process may take longer and involve a fee. To avoid delays, zonal tahsildars have been instructed to issue these certificates directly to voters who require them for SIR-related documentation.

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Acting on this directive, the Tamil Nadu government has put special arrangements in place. The Revenue Secretary has issued a circular to all district collectors outlining simplified procedures for issuing the necessary certificates.

97 Lakh Names Removed From Voter List In Tamil Nadu

Based on the SIR exercise, the poll body removed around 97 lakh names from the draft electoral rolls across the state. Under the SIR drive, the Election Commission of India asked voters to fill out SIR forms with specific details.

One key requirement was that if a voter or their relatives had been included in the electoral rolls in 2002 or 2005, the names of such relatives needed to be clearly mentioned in the forms.

During the scrutiny of documents submitted by the voters, the poll body found that nearly 10 lakh voters either failed to provide the required details or filled the forms incorrectly, prompting the ECI to initiate action against the defaulter voters, seeking an explanation, along with supporting documents.

(With IANS inputs)