Velmurugan, a Communist Party of India (Marxist) functionary from South Chennai, spent three days sifting through nearly 40,000 names from the electoral rolls of 2002 and 2005 just to find his own. It felt like he was managing a crisis, he told TNM. “If it was this hard for someone who is active in electoral politics, I cannot imagine the plight of the common man.”
Velmurugan’s frustration has become a shared concern across Tamil Nadu, with the Special Intensive Revision (SIR), the Election Commission of India’s (ECI) efforts to ‘purify’ electoral rolls, underway.
The enumeration process started in Tamil Nadu on November 4 and is set to be completed by December 4. Halfway through the hurried 30-day house-to-house enumeration, the SIR process in the state has been marred by complaints of mismanagement and technical issues. Several voters, especially from marginalised and/or minority communities, fear that they will be disenfranchised. Allegations of opacity, inadequate training of Booth Level Officers (BLOs), and poor communication by district authorities have made the SIR one of the most controversial electoral exercises in recent years.
The ECI has earmarked the electoral rolls from 2002 and 2005 as the baseline documents based on which the information of eligible voters are to be verified. But more often than not, voters like Velmurugan are simply not able to find their names on either the 2002 or the 2005 lists.
Finding his name in the old electoral rolls became so difficult for Velmurugan because in the past two decades, he has shifted houses four times across different localities of Chennai. This meant that he had to check for his name at the booth where he voted 20 years ago. But assembly constituencies in the area have changed since then, owing to the delimitation exercise of 2007.
“Finally, I found my name in the Alandur constituency in the 2002 rolls,” he said.
Similarly, Sudheer, a resident of Ambattur, said that he has not been able to access his information from the 2002 electoral roll. “I tried to find my EPIC (Elector’s Photo ID Card) number, but the website showed ‘No Data Found’. I tried the option to search by name or voter ID, but nothing worked, as the website has not been updated.” Another voter from Madurai said that he found multiple names matching his own in the 2002 rolls, but without the corresponding EPIC number provided, he has not been able to confirm his name on the list.
TNM reviewed the 2002 electoral rolls available on the ECI website, and found that the data was inaccessible. What has been uploaded is poorly scanned images of the list, which is not machine-readable. Moreover, the list does not contain the EPIC numbers of all voters. In some cases, the scanned images are of faded or torn pages, leaving out crucial information.
Meanwhile, the Tamil Nadu voters service portal, used for searching for voter details, no longer has the search by EPIC number option.
Sudheer said that he has been forced to submit an incomplete enumeration form as he could not access the necessary information, such as his booth and area details from 2002. “I filled in only my name, voter ID number, and father’s details and gave it to the BLO. The BLO is also not sure of what to do. They have so much on their plates as it is,” he said.
“If my name is not on the draft roll, I will follow up keenly because I want to vote. How many people will be able to do that? My wife is asking me, ‘Is follow-up necessary?’” Sudheer added.
The shoddily scanned list on the ECI website is not the only hurdle facing voters.
Rangaswami, a resident of Virugambakkam in Chennai, got his voter ID card only in 2011. “My parents passed away in 1996, so they are not on the 2002 list. I don’t know what to put in the second part of the form,” he said. He too submitted an incomplete form.
For 41-year-old IT employee Jameel, it took a whole weekend to fill in the enumeration form. “I could not find my name in the 2002 electoral rolls.” This was because the last SIR was conducted in Chennai in 2005. “My name was available in the 2005 SIR rolls,” he told TNM.
He added that he learned of this through a YouTube video and pointed out that even BLOs are not aware of this.
On ground, BLOs are ill-equipped and overburdened. Political party functionaries and voters alleged that BLOs lack training and are unaware of the procedures to be followed. Only some answer queries while distributing the enumeration forms, residents said.
TNM reached out to several BLOs involved in the enumeration process, and most confirmed that they have been given two days of training. “We were given two days of online training, and regular meetings are held online every day to give us fresh instructions,” a BLO said.
Most BLOs are assigned to areas with 1,000 or more voters. Many of them are new to the assigned areas and therefore find it hard to locate each voter.
Dhanalakshmi, a BLO in Chepauk, has been assigned to distribute 1,200 forms.
“Close to 400 voters have moved residences. But the forms remain with me, so many come to me to get the form. But there are some who haven’t come, and they might lose their votes. Merely sorting through the forms–two each for the 1,200 voters–requires two or three people,” she said.
As she is not a resident of the area, Dhanalakshmi is aided by local politicians who have a better understanding of the area. “We have been told to finish the form distribution in two days,” she said.
According to the Election Commission of India, as of November 12, out of Tamil Nadu’s 6.41 crore voters, 5.67 crore have received the enumeration forms, which amounts to 78.09%.
BLOs are supposed to hand over two sets of enumeration forms to each voter. But in some areas, only one form has been given. Rajeshwari, a voter hailing from Coimbatore, told TNM, “When we asked for the other form, the BLO told us that we will get it later. But we have no idea when it will be given to us or when we should be submitting it.”
Tech issues
Technical glitches on the ECI website have only added to the troubles faced by voters. BLOs who visit homes are often unable to demonstrate the procedure using their mobile phones. Some BLOs have basic phones, others have no internet connection, and most of the time, the process fails due to technical issues.
Voters’ attempts to fill the forms online have also failed. “Since the BLOs haven’t come to our area yet, we tried to fill the enumeration form online. We filled in all the details, but towards the end, at the stage where we were required to e-sign, the site kept crashing,” said Bhooma, a resident of Kottur Gardens.
Despite the enumeration process beginning on November 4, it was only nine days later, on November 13, that the Election Commission issued a notification with guidelines for filling up the enumeration forms online.
Anuradha, a resident of East Tambaram, said, “I cast my vote in both 2002 and 2005, but my name isn’t on the list. I don’t have any living relatives whose details I can give, and the BLO is also unsure of what to do. When I go online to check videos, each video says something new.”
Anuradha said she has filled in only her Aadhaar, name, and mobile number.
It was not just in filling the forms that Anuradha faced issues. “My house falls under booth number 244, but my form was clubbed under those from 245. When I asked my BLO what I should do, she said she has been instructed only to give forms to people whose names are on the list. The EC should at least give us the time to clear these issues, but they say we have to give the form back in a week,” she alleged.
Almost 10 days into the SIR process in Tamil Nadu, there are many who are still unaware of the voter roll revision, Dhanalakshmi, the BLO from Chepauk, said.
Sometimes, voters even think that the enumeration form given to them is like the ‘voting slip’ usually handed to them before polling. A resident of Coimbatore told TNM that in some areas, BLOs have failed to brief the residents about the exercise.
Similar concerns were raised in Tirunelveli, where a booth-level functionary of the Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam told TNM that there is no awareness among people in rural areas regarding SIR. “Even for the protest against SIR, the turnout was low,” he said.
The lack of awareness in rural areas regarding the SIR also means that when BLOs visit houses, voters are often not available there, making the distribution process all the more difficult.
A daunting task for the marginalised
For marginalised voters, the issue is compounded by a lack of access to technology and information.
Paalayam, a resident of a slum settlement in Georgetown, North Chennai, said, “I have been given the form, but I don’t know how to fill it. There is someone in our area who knows how to do it, so I have to approach him.”
She is worried that the process might result in their disenfranchisement. “I’m 60 and have been voting consistently in every election. Now you tell us to suddenly fill these forms, we don't know whether we will retain our votes after this,” Paalayam said.
The large-scale deletion of Muslim and women voters in Bihar, particularly from the Kosi-Seemanchal region, has given rise to fear of disenfranchisement among the minorities in Tamil Nadu too.
Leaders of minority communities have been carrying out SIR awareness programmes at all levels. Announcements are being made in churches and mosques, asking people to take part in the exercise in order to secure and protect their voting rights.
Organisations like Manithaneya Makkal Katchi (MMK), though principally opposed to the SIR and accusing the EC of ‘verifying’ the citizenship of Indians under the garb of ‘purification’ of electoral rolls, have no choice but to participate in the enumeration process.
Professor MH Jawahirullah, president of MMK, told TNM, “We have given instructions to our party workers in all districts to ensure the participation of all voters, help people fill the forms and submit them on time. We are also planning to organise camps and programmes to assist people.”
Christian organisations too have issued appeals asking community members to participate in the SIR. The Bishop of Chengalpattu A Neethinathan asked churches under the Catholic order to launch awareness programmes and ensure that the voting right of their community members is secured.
Except for the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), all other political parties in Tamil Nadu are against the SIR. The DMK is at the forefront, with the party-led state government even approaching the Supreme Court to challenge the exercise.
However, on ground, the DMK has deployed its electoral machinery to ensure that all eligible voters are included in the revised electoral rolls.
The DMK has been preparing its cadres for the SIR months in advance. Special teams led by Rajya Sabha MP and the party’s legal wing secretary NR Ilango were entrusted with training the DMK’s booth-specific agents (Booth Level Agents-2, or BLA-2). The party also prepared a handbook for its booth agents, listing out the tasks assigned to BLA-2 agents during SIR.
According to Election Commission data, Tamil Nadu has the highest number of BLA-2 agents in the country. The state has 68,467 booths and a BLA-2 strength of around 2.11 lakh.
In addition to this, the DMK has created a post called Booth Digital Agent (BDA), whose primary responsibility is to handle technology-related updates through an app created exclusively for monitoring booth-level activity.
The DMK has also set up Booth Level Committees (BLC) consisting of 10 members. Each person is in charge of 100 votes, and the committee members are tasked with ensuring that DMK voters do not face deletions. The AIADMK, the principal opposition in the state, too is asking its booth committee members and BLA-2 agents to accompany BLOs to ensure there is no foul play.
But according to BJP state secretary Karate Thiyagarajan, the DMK is trying to influence Booth Level Officers (BLO). He told TNM that most BLOs in the state are workers under the National Urban Livelihoods Mission (NULM), midday meal scheme workers, auxiliary nurses in primary health centres, and in some areas, teachers. “Most of these workers lack sufficient expertise and are being influenced by the DMK. What we were briefed during the Election Commission’s meeting is different from what's happening on ground. There is a lot of confusion and questions arising out of SIR,” Thiyagarajan said, further alleging, “If we want to lodge a complaint, Election Commission officials are unreachable.”
Voter helplines
At the state level, the DMK has launched a helpline exclusively for SIR-related matters. A mix of party functionaries and lawyers from its legal wing have been deployed to assist voters. “On average, we receive 2,500 phone calls per day. The complaints can be from those who cannot find their names on the 2002 and 2005 SIR lists, people living abroad, or from those who don’t know how to fill the forms,” a member of the helpline committee told TNM.
The calls mostly come from minority communities and from the Kongu region of Tamil Nadu, the helpline committee member further said. “People from minority communities reach out to us seeking information regarding enumeration forms. Those who are yet to receive forms also call us seeking help from Tiruppur, Karur, Namakkal, and other areas.”
The helpline directs the queries to the 3.5 lakh BLA, BDA, and BLC members on the ground for further assistance.
DMK allies too have formed committees in areas of their influence, and training camps are being conducted across Tamil Nadu to ensure their cadres are adequately prepared. “The biggest challenge is not the enumeration process. Once the draft electoral roll is released, there will be deletions and additions. We have to prepare our cadres to be vigilant regarding the inclusion of voters,” a CPI(M) functionary who is part of the training told TNM.
MMK’s Jawhirullah added that they are preparing party workers and cadres to tackle the second and more critical phase of SIR. “After the draft rolls are published, deletions and inclusions of new voters will come to light. That is where the real challenge lies.”