Chandigarh: Elections for the state assembly of Punjab are likely to be held in later part of January 2017. Addressing a press conference in Chandigarh on September 06 state Chief Electoral Officer V. K. Singh said that the revision of voter lists and enrolment of new voters will being on Sept. 07.
He said that elections in Punjab could be held in last week of January or first week of February 2017. He however did not give the exact dates of the election. He said that the date for elections will be announced by the Election Commission (EC) by the end of this year.
A press release issued by the office of CEO reads as follows:
PRESS NOTE
The Special Summary Revision of photo Electoral roll will begin in Punjab from 07.09.2016. The Draft Electoral Roll will be published on 07.09.2016 and can be seen at office of DEO, ERO BLO and Polling Station. The draft electoral roll is also available at website of the CEO Office. (http://ceopunjab.nic.in). Claim and objection in Form 6, 6A, 7, 8 and 8A can be filed with the ERO’s from 07.09.2016 to 07.10.2016 by anyone who has attained the age of 18 as on 01.01.2017.
Against a total projected population of 29523569, the eligible population of 18+ is estimated at 19949125 persons. The draft electoral roll now contains 19214509 voters these covering approximately 96.32% of the eligible population. During the continuous revision of electoral rolls 209979 new voters have been registered and 189638 dead, duplicate, not eligible or shifted voters have been deleted from the electoral rolls. EP ratio of electoral rolls in the state is 651 and gender ratio of electoral rolls is 891.
In Punjab main gap lies in the age-cohort of 18-19 years where the coverage is only 95022 against an estimate of 11, 50357 eligible persons. In order to target this gap, special campaigns have been launched in educational institutions and through partner organizations and Government Departments.
The Election Commission has organized intensive training of all its functionaries down to the BLO level to ensure smooth and hassle free enrolment of voters or correction in the roll. ECI has imposed ban on transfers of Electoral registration related officers and staff to all Departments. The Draft electoral Roll can be seen on the CEO’s website on which there is also a search facility on the basis of name. Separately, an SMS based query system is also available by sending a message CEOPJB < SPACE> <EPIC NUMBER> and sent it to +917738299899. The CEOs helpline 1950 has also been activated and upgraded for the revision period which will remain open from 9:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M.
The CEO invited representative of all political parties on 05.09.2016 to inform them regarding this revision programme and to seek their cooperation in taking this message to all citizens who have not been enrolled till now. Soft Copies of the Draft roll of 117 assembly constituencies of State have been handed over to representatives of the political parties. They have been requested to appoint Booth Level Agents in all the polling booths to assist the BLO and ERO in making the rolls clean and healthy.
The District Election Offices & Electoral Registration Offices will also hold a meeting today or tomorrow with all representatives of political parties in all districts of Punjab. They will also give a hard copy and CD containing the draft electoral rolls to the authorized person of the recognized political parties.
All BLOs and supervisors are expected to be in the field on their Polling Stations on 10th September and 24th September 2016 for reading of roll and 11th September and 25th September, 2016 the forms will be received by the BLOs at their respective polling stations. Teachers who are BLOs will attend to this work after school hours so that the studies of the students are not adversely affected.
The Chief Electoral Officer has directed to all the DEOs and EROs to ensure the meticulous compliance of the ECI’s guidelines to improve the health of the electoral rolls.
The comprehensive electoral roll checking will be done by all election machinery on 10th and 24th September, 2016. These days have been named as “Electoral Roll Checking Days”. The BLOs will check the electoral roll of their respective part and supervisor, AEROs, EROs, Additional DEOs and DEOs will also check the electoral rolls of randomly selected parts to ensure the accuracy of the electoral rolls and will send the checking report to the Chief Electoral Officer in this regard. The Officer from the CEO office will also visit the field to supervise this activity.