Hear voters before deleting names from roll, DMK urges Chief Electoral Officer

CHENNAI: The ruling DMK has urged the Chief Electoral Officer of Tamil Nadu to hear eligible voters before deleting their names from the electoral roll.

The DMK also asked the CEO to direct the registration officers and Booth Level Officers (BLOs) to strictly adhere to sections 9 and 21A of the Registration of Electoral Rules 1960.

Drawing the CEOs attention to alleged deletion of thousands of names from the electoral rolls despite electors holding valid voter IDs and residing at the same address for several years and voting in the past elections, DMK organizing secretary RS Bharathi, in his representation to the CEO, said, “It has recently come to our notice that there has been deletion of thousands of names from the voters list by the ECI, which has caused widespread confusion in the State.”

The DMK organising secretary cited Section 9 of the Registration of Electoral Rules 1960 mandating that the registration officer was required to verify the registers of death when objections are raised under Form 7 and Section 21A of Electoral Rules 1960 mandating that RO should prepare a list of deceased persons/electors for deletion and display or publish it on the website under the respective forms.

Requesting the CEO to take his September 3 representation on record and direct the registration officers and Booth Level Officers (BLOs) to strictly adhere to sections 9 and 21A of the Registration of Electoral Rules 1960, Bharathi asked the CEO to provide an opportunity for a hearing to the eligible voters before deletion of their names from the electoral roll.