Govt looks at common electoral rolls for polls

nNEW DELHI: The Central government is considering a common electoral roll for national, state and local bodies elections, but a senior Election Commission of India official told Hindustan Times that 22 states are already using EC’S roll to conduct polls.

At present, state election commissions, separate bodies appointed by the state government, can draft separate electoral rolls for urban and rural local body elections. The ECI, meanwhile, prepares the voters list for Lok Sabha and assembly polls.

Earlier this month, the Prime Minister’s Office organised a meeting on the issue where top officials of the Law Ministry and the EC gave their views on the present status and the future possibilities.

“The Election Commission representative apprised the Prime Minister’s office that 22 states are already using ECI’S electoral roll, however, the states that are not using it can not be forced by us,” said the ECI official. “The meeting was to take stock of why a common electoral roll is not being discussed.” The official added that either the law has to be amended or the Cabinet Secretary has to tell the states to adopt the ECI’S electoral roll.

“We have already digitised the electoral roll,” said the official. “It reduces pressure on administrative staff to not have to conduct the exercise to gather voter details again and again. It is a very desirable goal.”

A senior BJP functionary said it is an idea whose time has come. “There will be several rounds of consultation on the issue. It has been felt that the electoral rolls should be uniform for the election purposes from the Lok Sabha to the municipal level. It does away with the variations that crop up in the rolls,” the functionary said.