The Election Commission has called for greater vigilance from political parties after a significant error was discovered during the revision of voter lists in Ghaziabad. A local functionary of the Azad Samaj Party was incorrectly listed among deceased voters, prompting officials to stress the need for timely corrections.
Commission's Directive to Political Parties
Addressing booth-level agents from various political parties at a meeting on Friday, Election Commission's special roll observer Nikhil Gajraj emphasized a more proactive role. He stated that cases where voters are wrongly marked as absent, shifted, or dead must be resolved quickly. The solution lies in the prompt submission of the necessary enumeration forms to booth-level officers.
"If a voter's name has been incorrectly included in the Absent, Shifted, or Dead (ASD) list, the enumeration form should be collected from booth-level officers, duly filled, and submitted for digitization," Gajraj explained. For omissions or detail corrections, he directed voters to use Form 6 or Form 8, which can be submitted through Booth Level Officers (BLOs) or online via the Election Commission's voter portal and the ECINET mobile app.
The Case That Sparked the Alert
The commission's intervention followed a specific incident involving Nizam Chaudhary, an Azad Samaj Party functionary from Muradnagar and brother of former MLA Wahab Chaudhary. Earlier this week, Chaudhary discovered he was listed as dead in the revised electoral rolls.
"I came to know only after the local administration shared the list of absent, shifted, and dead voters with BLAs of political parties. No booth-level officer ever visited my house during the enumeration drive," Chaudhary told reporters. He highlighted that while routine errors can be fixed, being declared dead is a far more serious lapse. Chaudhary has since written to the Election Commission of India and state authorities, seeking the restoration of his name.
He added that despite receiving a call from the area's assistant electoral registration officer for details after the issue arose, no BLO visited his residence to verify the situation.
Official Acknowledgment and Broader Implications
Election officials have acknowledged the mistake. Additional district election officer Saurabh Bhatt attributed the error to a booth-level officer and confirmed that Chaudhary's details have now been corrected and updated in the official records.
This incident has brought to light the scale of potential discrepancies as the draft electoral roll is due for publication on December 31. Officials revealed that over 10 lakh names in Ghaziabad could face deletion if existing issues are not resolved before the final list is prepared.
In a move to enhance transparency, the district administration has uploaded a public list of voters whose names are under threat of removal on its official website. They are urging residents and political party workers to verify details thoroughly before the final publication to prevent legitimate voters from being disenfranchised.
