Toll free Helpline 1950 to play pivotal role in registration and correction as voters: CEO Dr Raju

Chandigarh: As per guidelines of the Election Commission of India (ECI), the schedule for the Special Summary Revision of Electoral Rolls with reference to 01-01-2021 as the qualifying date has been laid out by the Office of Chief Electoral Officer, Punjab. This gives an opportunity to citizens to register themselves as voters and also to verify their electoral details. In view of current pandemic situation, ECI’s Toll free helpline 1950 will supplement the operations to ensure seamless execution. 

With an objective to improve the health of electoral rolls and ensure enrolment of all eligible citizens, Special Summary Revision is conducted in the later part of each year in all the state/UTs. People who have not been able to register themselves as voters and those who find errors in the electoral rolls or have migrated to some other constituency, can utilise the special summary revision of the roll with the qualifying date as January 1st, 2021 i.e. who have completed or will be completing age of 18 on or before date 01.01.2021.

The forms received online/offline upto 31.08.2020 will be integrated in the draft electoral roll, which will be published on 16.11.2020. Claims and objections will be taken up from 16.11.2020 to 15.12.2020. Special camps will also be held at all the polling stations on 21.11.2020, 22.11.2020, 05.12.2020 and 06.12.2020.

Divulging details, Dr. S. Karuna Raju, Chief Electoral Officer, Punjab said, “Booth Level Officers (BLOs) serve as the face and work as the foot-soldiers of the Election Commission of India. They are responsible for maintaining their area’s voter lists. Since they are the single point of contact for on-ground verification on behalf of ECI, the prevalent situation in the wake of COVID-19 has posed some challenges. In order to tide over this unprecedented situation, we have decided to use technology effectively, and to make this programme even stronger and resilient.”

Sharing insights, Ms. Madhvi Kataria, Additional, CEO, Punjab said, “The virus outbreak is going to change our outlook in a big way, hopefully for the better. This is going to be the transformative point for the election machinery, enabling us to think anew and work cohesively as a force utilizing technology in this new-normal.”

Citizens can verify their electoral details online through Toll free Help Line no. 1950, Mobile App, (Voter Helpline), National Voters Service Portal (nvsp.in). In addition, they can visit Common Service Centres (CSC) or submit hard copy of filled up forms to BLOs. The citizens can authenticate their details and enroll as voters by submitting a copy of one of the official documents – Aadhaar Card, Permanent Account Number (PAN) card, Driving Licence, Passport, Passbook with photograph issued by a recognised bank or post office, Pension document with photograph for retired personnel, Service ID card issued by central/state government, MGNREGA job card, Health insurance smart card issued by the Ministry of Labour and Employment, Authenticated photo voter slip issued by election machinery or any other document as approved by ECI.

The CEO, Punjab has directed all the Deputy Commissioners-cum-District Election Officers to undertake this revision activity and to supervise their teams periodically. CEO, Punjab will also encourage recognized political parties to identify and appoint Booth Level Agents (BLA) for each polling station who would identify the corrections, deletion and modification in electoral rolls along with BLOs.