No complaint against enrolment of doubtful voters: Rowell
SHILLONG: The Opposition parties on Tuesday expressed apprehension over the possible enrolment of dubious voters into the State electoral rolls and sought to know whether the state government had put in place a foolproof mechanism to prevent dubious voters from being enrolled.
Raising the matter in the Assembly on Tuesday, UDP legislator Jemino Mawthoh pointed out the high possibility of dubious voters getting enrolled due to the presence of a large number of illegal immigrants in the state.
“I will like to know about the status of the illegal immigrants who continue to linger in the state. It is a matter of serious concern if these illegal immigrants manage to get themselves enrolled in the electoral rolls,” Mawthoh said during the Question Hour.
Referring to the Supreme Court ruling on Sept 23, 2013 over the implementation of the National Population Register (NPR), Mawthoh said that the apex court had clearly mentioned that there should be proper examination to detect illegal immigrants during implementation of the NPR.
“The Supreme Court also clearly specifies that illegal immigrants should not be given Aadhaar – Unique Identification Number (UID),” the legislator said.
He also questioned the intention of the state government to go ahead with the implementation of the NPR without taking necessary precautions as directed by the apex court.
Meanwhile, Opposition leader Donkupar Roy wanted to know if there was any case of non-Indians being enrolled in the electoral rolls especially in the villages along the international border with Bangladesh.
“I have received reports where people from outside the country are being enrolled. But I will like to know if the state government has any information on the same,” Roy said.
He also asked whether the state government had constituted any inquiry to find out if there was any such case.
In reply, Deputy Chief Minister in charge Election, Rowell Lyngdoh, asserted that the drive for enrolment into the electoral rolls in the state was free from any controversy.
“We have not received any kind of complaints about enrolment of illegal immigrants in the electoral rolls,” Lyngdoh said.
According to Lyngdoh, the State Election machinery has been strictly adhering to the directions and guidelines laid down by the Election Commission in implementing the enrolment process.
He said that Meghalaya had 100 per cent Photo Electoral Rolls coverage and regular checking of the overall correctness of the electoral rolls have been done over the years by all deputy commissioners and sub-divisional officers.
“All political parties have been requested from time to time to appoint booth level agents in all polling stations for identification of genuine voters before inclusion of their names in the electoral roll,” Lyngdoh said.
De-duplication of the software was been regularly run to detect duplication records from the electoral roll database, Lyngdoh added.
He also said that the electoral rolls have been published in the website of the Commission to allow the general public to file objections before the Electoral Registration Officers (ERO) in case any dubious voter has been enrolled.
“The objection to non-inclusion of dubious names in the electoral rolls can be filed before the ERO. Appeal against the order of the ERO may be filed before the District Magistrate. At the same time, appeal against the order of the DM may be filed before the Chief Electoral Officer,” he stated.
Meanwhile, he asserted that the State election machinery did not have any details on enrolment of non-Indians in the electoral rolls.
“I can proudly say that we have managed to enroll all genuine Indian citizens residing in the state,” the minister asserted.