Inclusion of ‘suspicious voters’ in rolls will be subject to judge’s order: CEC

NEW DELHI: The Calcutta High Court holds the key to whether nearly 4.5 million “suspicious voters” will be able to contest the Bengal assembly elections – their cases being decided by judicial officers based on the Supreme Court’s February directive. According to reports, of the 6 million “suspicious elector” cases, 1.5 million have been adjudicated so far. CEC Gyanesh Kumar on Sunday said the “learned bench” working on the directions of the HC will publish the supplementary list approved for inclusion in the state electoral roll, after which the EC will add them back to the final roll. The additional voters are eligible to vote in the state’s upcoming polls. Kumar praised the SIR and termed it a “massive democratic exercise” and said it had provided a pure electoral roll under Article 326, “the cornerstone of democracy”. However, an EC official said the rules require the voter list to be frozen on the last date for nominations, with additions to the list not allowed until 10 days before then, with the remaining time available for possible appeals. There is a provision for a two-point appeal process against the final registration entry, firstly to the District Magistrate and secondly and finally to the Chief Electoral Officer of the concerned State or Union Territory. This means that the rolls of 152 seats in Bangladesh’s parliamentary constituencies that will be voted in the first phase of voting on April 23 may be frozen on March 27, and the 142 seats originally scheduled for voting on April 29 may be frozen on April 1.