Compendium_of_Instructions_on_ERs_EPIC_SLA_Computerisation00070

							        (iv)     If any, person whose citizenship is suspected is shown to have been
                 included in the immediately preceding Electoral Roll, the Electoral
                 Registration Officer or any other officer inquiring into the matter shall bear in
                 mind that the entire gamut for inclusion of the name in the Electoral roll
                 must have been undertaken and hence adequate probative value be
                 attached to that factum before issuance of notice and in subsequent
                 proceedings.
        These guidelines not being exhaustive, the Officers concerned must, where special
situations arise, conduct themselves fairly and in a manner consistent with the principles of
natural justice and should not appear to be acting on any pre-conceived notions.
        The onus of proof of the citizenship shall lie on the applicant who applies for
inclusion of his name for the first time. The ERO must be satisfied that the person seeking
to have his name enrolled is not disqualified, among others, by reason of his not being a
citizen of India. Therefore, the Electoral Registration Officer would be justified in requiring
the concerned person to show evidence that he is a citizen of India.               Some of the
documents that could be used to prove the citizenship are any of the following:-
i)      National Register of Citizens (NRC), would be used/referred to wherever it exists.

ii)     Citizenship certificate issued by competent authority.

iii)    A valid passport issued by the Government of India.

iv)     Birth Certificate.
                 (Care should be taken to ensure that the entry/certificate produced is
                 genuine).
        It must, however, be borne in mind that the above mentioned documents are only
illustrative and not exhaustive.
        Any other documents having a bearing on the question of citizenship should also be
entertained and evaluated.
        A certificate issued by village headman, Panchayat president, etc., to the effect that
a person is a citizen of India is not by itself reliable documentary evidence as conclusive
proof of citizenship.
        In the case of married women who change their residence as a result of marriage
and who cannot produce documentary evidence as a proof of citizenship, but who are
otherwise genuine Indian citizens eligible for registration as voters, the following documents
but not restricted thereto, may also be accepted by the Electoral Registration Officer at the
time of disposal of claims and objections: -
i)      proof of being registered as voter as an unmarried girl, if her name was registered;
ii)      proof of marriage, wherever possible;
iii)    certificates issued by the village headmen of both the villages i.e. the village to
        which the woman belonged before marriage and the village to which she has moved
        after her marriage, countersigned by a village level Government Official;
iv)     Where there is no village headman in existence, the certificate to the above effect
        issued by the Secretary, Gram Panchayat or an officer equivalent to village
        headman in terms of his powers and functions, and countersigned by village level
        Government Official.
        Especially in the case of persons producing citizenship certificates, the genuineness
and authenticity of each such certificate should be duly verified. Wherever there is any
doubt, those cases should be referred to the authorities who issued those certificates. This
is necessary as there is reason to suspect that some of these certificates are bogus or
issued without due care.


        It should be noted that the certificates issued by State Government authorities as
regards permanent residence in the State are not themselves necessarily conclusive proof
of citizenship.


        Whenever an Electoral Registration officer is in doubt in regard to the qualifying age
or place of ordinary residence of a claimant, he shall decide that question with reference to,
but not restricted to, the birth certificate, school or college certificate, passport, baptism
certificate, telephone connection, LPG connection, Bank account, etc.


        In the case of persons who claim to be migrants from other parts of India, their
statements should not be taken at face value.          They will be required by the Electoral
Registration Officer to adduce such evidence as may satisfy him in regard to their claim of
migration from another place of India.       In appropriate cases, the Electoral Registration
Officer shall crosscheck the position with the District Election Officer of the District from
where the claimants claim to have migrated.


        In case of an objection filed in Form 7 seeking the deletion of name from the
electoral roll on the ground that the person objected to is not a citizen of India, the onus of
proof shall lie on the objector. It shall be ensured that such onus is fully discharged in
accordance with law.


16.     FINAL PUBLICATION OF ROLLS AND NO. OF COPIES TO BE PRINTED

        The final roll shall be prepared after all claims and objections have been duly
disposed of. Supplements as stated above shall be prepared to give effect to the decisions
of the Electoral Registration Officer allowing or rejecting the claims applications and
objections, in the forms prescribed by the Commission for the purpose of such supplements.
It is made clear that under the existing election law, for the purpose of final publication of the
electoral roll, the EROs shall prepare supplements of additions, deletion and corrections and
publish the draft roll together with the three supplements. On such publication, the draft roll
plus the Supplements shall be the final roll of the Constituency. Further the electoral rolls
should be finally published in the new format prescribed by the Commission. These will,
therefore, have AC summary, part summary, and section headers containing postal address
and other summary information and the list of electors with additional columns giving EPIC
number. Instructions issued by the Commission to provide postal address in the election
shall be followed in regard to printing the postal address in the roll. The Chief Electoral
Officers should closely monitor and supervise this aspect.
        Copies of the finally published roll should be placed for inspection at all the
locations, where the draft rolls had been made available, for a limited period of one week for
greater accessibility of the final rolls to the public. Designated Officers who would be
custodian of the roll and responsible for assisting the public to verify their entries in the
finally published roll shall be appointed for each such location. These officers shall be paid
an honorarium of Rs.200/- for the purpose. In addition, copies of the rolls can be displayed
at various other public locations like Rural Libraries, Panchayat Bhavans, Resident Welfare
Associations and any other important location depending on local conditions. This would
eliminate the genuine grievances of the electors, at large, about non-availability of final rolls
at a nearby location for verification of entries and increase their level of involvement in
cleaning the electoral roll.
        The number of copies to be printed may be assessed by the CEOs keeping in view
the requirement for elections due next year if any. The copies required by the State Election
Commission and future revisions of Electoral Rolls should also be taken into account. On
the basis of the total requirements, the final print numbers should be decided by the Chief
Electoral Officers.
        Simultaneously, four copies of the archival and back up copy of CD-ROM (AB) as
prescribed under the guidelines of the Commission, for computerization of rolls, must be
produced. Two copies are to be retained by the DEO and two by the CEO for purpose of
record and future reference.
17.     SUPPLY OF COPIES OF ELECTORAL ROLLS
        The ERO shall supply free of cost to every political party for which a symbol has
been exclusively reserved in the State, two copies of each separate part of the electoral roll
immediately after draft publication and again after final publication. Wide publicity about
availability of the electoral rolls in CD-ROM should be given. The political parties while
being given copies of draft rolls should be requested in writing to verify the rolls and
bring to the notice of DEO/ERO the shortcomings, if any, within a specified time.
18.     MISCELLANEOUS ISSUES

18.1.   Enumeration in areas having substantial presence of foreign nationals

        Special care has to be taken at the time of enumeration in areas having substantial
presence of foreign nationals and the following procedure shall be adhered to:

        (b)      The assembly constituencies where there is a large-scale presence of
                 foreign nationals should be identified first by the State Government
                 authorities concerned and within such assembly constituencies, the polling
                 areas having a substantial presence of foreign nationals should also be
                 likewise identified by those authorities.
        (c)      At the time of house to house enumeration in these areas, the enumerators
                 shall include in the 'Electoral Card' the names of all persons as are declared
                 to be adult Indian citizens by the head/senior adult member of the
                 household furnishing the information to the Enumerator.
        (d)      The Enumerator shall prepare the list of persons enumerated as per the
                 enumeration pad as explained herein before.
        (e)      As soon as the manuscript in respect of a polling area is handed over by
                 the Enumerator alongwith the enumeration pad containing the original
                 'Electoral Cards', the Supervisor shall take action to compare the entries