Process of registration for voting involves a series of neat steps which need to be followed for being a registered voter. The Election Commission of India prepares the electoral rolls through a process of intensive revision where house-to-house enumeration is done and electors residing in each house are registered by official enumerators who go physically from door-to-door to collect the information about electors. This process is done normally once in five years. Between two Intensive revisions, summary revisions are done every year during a specified period when persons who are left out of the electoral rolls are given an opportunity to register themselves by applying in Form-6. It is also expected from the voter that the person will get his/her name deleted from the place where the person was registered earlier, i.e., the earlier place of residence, and get it registered in the new place of residence. For this purpose, it is sufficient that the concerned person files a claim in application form 6 before the Electoral Registration Officer of the new place. In this form, full details of the earlier place of residence must be given. Short absence from place of residence does not debar one to continue his/her name in electoral roll. Similarly, deletions are carried out of electors who have died or who have shifted residence from one area to another outside the prescribed part of the electoral roll. It must be noted here that a person can be registered only at one place. Registration in more than one place is an offence.
During Intensive Revision of electoral rolls which normally takes place once in five years, a draft roll is prepared after house to house enumeration and published at every polling booth location for inviting claims and objections. Any eligible person can file claim in Form No. 6 for inclusion of his/her name in the roll or raise an objection to somebody`s name or for deletion of his/her or any other person`s name in Form No. 7. Similarly if any particulars in the electoral roll are to be modified such as name, house number, middle name, last name, age, sex, epic number etc. a claim in Form No. 8 can be filed. In case any elector has changed his house from the polling area of one booth to other booth in the same Assembly Constituency he/she can file application in Form No. 8A for change/transposition from one electoral part to the other part.
During Summary revision of electoral rolls which takes place every year, the existing electoral rolls are published at each polling booth location to invite claims and objections for inclusion, deletion, modification and transposition. After due enquiry all the claims and objections are decided and a supplementary electoral roll is prepared and published. Even after the final publication of electoral rolls the process of continuous updation of electoral rolls goes on and the citizens are free to file any application for the addition, deletion, modification and transposition with the Electoral Registration Officer.
As per the law, a voter`s name can be registered up to the last date of filing nominations by candidates that have been notified by the Election Commission for any general election or bye-election to an Assembly or Parliament. To enable the Electoral Registration Officer to take action on the application, one must apply at least ten days before the last date of making nominations as he has to mandatorily invite objections by giving a seven clear days notice before including the name in the roll. If one applies later than ten clear days before the last date for nominations, the name may not be included for the purposes of that particular election.
