Gautam Buddha Nagar will hold special voter-registration camps on October 17 and 24 to help eligible residents who were left out of the final electoral roll published after Uttar Pradesh’s Special Intensive Revision exercise. Booth Level Officers will be available at every polling booth from 10 am to 4 pm on both days.
The camps follow a direction from Uttar Pradesh’s Chief Electoral Officer and will focus on residents whose names did not appear in the final roll published on April 10. District election officers met supervisors on Wednesday and instructed them to coordinate immediately with Booth Level Officers in their respective areas.
Officials also clarified that new voters being added to the electoral roll under special circumstances will no longer be required to provide information related to the Special Intensive Revision. Applicants seeking registration will need to submit Form 6 along with their latest photograph, date of birth and proof of address.
The exercise assumes significance in Gautam Buddha Nagar, where approximately 3.6 lakh names were excluded from the final electoral roll. The draft roll had recorded the removal of around 4.4 lakh voters. Across Uttar Pradesh, about 2.05 crore names were struck off after the 166-day revision exercise, according to the report.
Election officials said the camps would give priority to first-time voters. Indian citizens born before January 1, 2009, who are aged 18 years or above, should be included in the electoral roll on a priority basis, they said. The drive will also focus on women voters and other eligible residents who may have been left out during the revision process.
The authorities have included specific measures for older residents and third-gender citizens. Voters aged 80 and above will undergo physical verification, while details of third-gender citizens will be recorded or appropriately marked in the electoral database.
A district election officer said a sufficient number of Form 6 applications would be available at the camps. The form is used by eligible Indian citizens to apply for inclusion in the electoral roll. A Booth Level Officer said that when a person submits Form 6, the application is added to the concerned officer’s cart on the election app.
The special camps are part of a wider enrolment drive ordered in states and Union Territories where the revision exercise has concluded. The Indian Express has reported that the Election Commission directed these jurisdictions to conduct a special drive for voters left out of the rolls. The revision has also faced allegations of irregularities, including concerns over the large number of deletions from draft and final rolls.
Residents seeking inclusion will be able to approach their polling booth during the two six-hour camps and submit the required documents to the Booth Level Officer. District election officials have asked supervisors to ensure that the local officers are informed and present at their assigned booths.
