Lucknow: Amid reports of irregularities in voter rolls from Pilibhit and Azamgarh, Uttar Pradesh chief electoral officer Navdeep Rinwa has ordered a statewide audit of all Form 6, Form 7 and Form 8 entries processed by computer assistants since April 10, the day the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) ended.The order was issued in a virtual meeting of the CEO with divisional commissioners, district election officers, electoral registration officers (EROs), assistant EROs and computer assistants on Saturday.During the meeting, the CEO warned officials that the ERO, assistant ERO and computer assistant concerned would face action under Section 32 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950, if any irregularity was found in the audit. The district election officer could also be held responsible for inadequate supervision, he said.Divisional commissioners, designated as roll observers, were directed to supervise the work of electoral rolls in districts. The CEO asked officials to refer to Section 32 of the Act, which pertains to the breach of official duty in the preparation of electoral rolls. He asked officials not to share their ERONET login IDs or passwords with anyone.The CEO barred computer assistants from making entries of applications received in physical format. “Booth level officers (BLOs) should digitise all such applications through BLO app, while physical forms should be kept safely. EROs should review pending Forms 6, 7 and 8 every day and ensure prompt disposal according to rules,” he said.Complaints received since April 10 through national grievance service portal, public grievance redressal system, social media and other channels should be resolved timely and with due attention to their merits, he said.He asked officials to prevent recurrence of errors identified while examining complaints from political parties and social media.Complaints circulating on social media regarding duplicate voters were also taken up during the meeting.The CEO expressed displeasure that district election officers in Bulandshahr, Sitapur, Ghaziabad and Aligarh did not send reports on time and directed them to ensure prompt action.He instructed officials to remove all duplicate entries before the draft electoral roll for the upcoming Special Summary Revision (SSR) is published on Nov 12.Officials who received training on ECINET were instructed to update their personal mobile numbers on the portal in place of their CUG numbers to avoid disruption when connectivity is unavailable, and to change their passwords immediately under the prescribed password policy.Rinwa also directed officials to ensure that no request under the “Book a Call with BLO” service on the ECINET app and voters.eci.gov.in portal was pending for more than 48 hours.“BLOs should contact voters before marking them ‘unavailable’. Failure to respond to call requests on time, or selecting that option without contacting voters, could invite action following complaints,” he said.He also reviewed complaints received on special campaign day Oct 24 regarding late arrival or absence of BLOs from polling booths. Calling for reports on the BLOs concerned, the CEO warned that such complaints during special campaign days were unacceptable.
