Verification of Voters Lists in Sanathnagar Constituency

At the instance of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), Andhra Pradesh, Lok Satta had undertaken verification of electoral rolls of Sanathnagar Constituency. Sanathnagar Constituency consists of 185 polling stations in 174 locations.

Soft copy of the voters’ lists in the constituency (as on 1-1-2005) was obtained from the office of the CEO. Field work began on August 05 and was completed in November/ December 05. Degree students from various colleges worked enthusiastically as volunteers. Regular Lok Satta volunteers undertook the task of recruiting, training and guiding these student volunteers.

The mother Rolls prepared as on 1-1-2003 along with revisions carried out in 2004 and 2005 formed the basis of the Lok Satta voter verification. Out of the 174,396 voters on the rolls in the 185 polling stations, 153,923 voters were physically verified (88.3%). It was found that 10,082 names needed to be added (6.5%) as their names were missing. Similarly 14,246 (9.2%) names of ineligible persons found place in the rolls and needed deletion from the voters lists. This is a vast improvement over the error margins noted in 1999, in a survey of 27 urban polling stations in 9 districts, when 18,102 voters were verified. Then about 4702 names (26%) needed to be deleted and 3,414 (18.9%) names needed to be added. The 2004 Lok Satta voter verification sample survey, uncovered a figure of 12.15% errors in urban areas. Of the 41 urban polling stations comprising 41042 voters covered, 2,205 (5.37%) additions and 2,782 (6.77%) deletions were made.

Though electoral rolls continue to be flawed, this situation has improved over the years thanks to Lok Satta’s advocacy and Election Commision’s efforts. But even now errors in voter registration are common and are also the most easily remediable of defects in our electoral process. Recent surveys by Janagraha in Bangalore, as part of VOTEINDIA Campaign, reinforce the magnitude of errors in voter enrolment. The recent decision of the Election Commission to allow post offices to function as a nodal agency for revision of electoral rolls is a positive, citizen-friendly move. But we need a permanent, accessible, citizen-friendly, accountable system of voter registration.

A post office is available in every village, and is widely regarded as a user-friendly public institution. While this process of accessible and verifiable voter registration through the local post office involves simple and easy changes in procedures and rules, it will mark the most significant improvement in our electoral process at no additional cost. Even though a sizeable percentage of the voting population is illiterate, if electoral rolls can be made accessible (displayed) to citizens at all times for easy inspection in a neighbourhood facility, and are also available for sale at a reasonable price, then much of the problem can be corrected. This accessible and verifiable voter registration will enable the literate population, civil society groups, voluntary organizations, and local political activists to verify the process and check irregularities. The very openness and accessibility of the voter lists and statutory forms will make a marked difference to electoral registration, and improve the quality of electoral rolls.

While some progress has been made, post offices have not yet become permanent nodal agencies for voter registration. Lok Satta, many civil society organizations, and VOTEINDIA Campaign should focus on this simple goal in the coming months and ensure a permanent, local, accessible registration process through the more than 150,000 post offices in the country. Such a practise is successfully followed in several countries including the Untied States, Australia and Fiji.