Post Office as Nodal Agency for Voter Registration

Although the voting eligibility is the same for all Parliament / Assembly / Local Bodies the electoral rolls for local bodies in certain States are different. Not only does it add to the expenditure, it makes revision of electoral rolls very expensive and time consuming. The more serious problem is that the room for falsification is enhanced. Therefore there should be common electoral rolls for all elections.

Happily, though errors in voter registration are common, they are also the most easily remediable of defects in our electoral process. All that is required is to evolve a process that is voter-friendly. Each polling station contains no more than 700-1000 names. If electoral rolls can be made accessible (displayed) to citizens at all times for easy inspection in a neighbourhood facility, and are also available for sale at a nominal price, then much of the problem can be corrected. It is very easy for the citizens of the neighbourhood to not only verify if their own and family members names are in the list, but also to check if any of their neighbours' names are missing or wrong names are in. If the appropriate statutory forms (Forms 6 , 7, 8,8A & 8B) are also locally available free or for a nominal cost of say 10 paise each, the voter can present the application, obtain an acknowledgement and await written communication of decision taken on his application. The local public office can be made responsible for acknowledging application and communicating action taken. All these changes can be brought about by mere revision of rules and procedures, and no amendment of law is involved. Statutory forms (Form 6,7,8, 8A &8B) also should be available free or for a small fee of say 10 paise each in the Post Office. The forms could be easily picked up at the post -office and filed, giving details for inclusion or deletion.

There are two public offices locally accessible to all citizens - the village panchayat and the post-office. In urban areas, the municipality or corporation may not always be accessible as it caters to a much larger number of citizens. It would be ideal if the post office is made the nodal agency for supply of electoral rolls, supply and receipt of statutory forms, acknowledgement of application and communication of action taken reports.The revenue or municipal statutory forms, acknowledgement of application and communication of action taken reports.

The revenue or municipal office can be the actual decision making authority in respect of such applications, as is the present practice. All we need is to make the process transparent, accessible and verifiable by citizens locally. A post office is available in every village, and is widely regarded as a user-friendly public institution.

The post office has a culture of across-the-table transactions in real time. Any citizen can be given access to the voters' list pertaining to the local polling station(s) for inspection, so that he can verify the accuracy of entries. Copies can be made available to citizens for a price, and they can purchase them just as they would buy postal stationery and stamps. The statutory forms in English and local language can be made available free of cost, or at a nominal price of, say 10 paise to cover the printing cost. All such applications can be received at the post office and an acknowledgement given to the applicant. The post office will then transmit them to the revenue or municipal or panchayat office, as decided by the Election Commission, for enquiry and determination as to whether or not to accept the application. The action taken can be communicated within a period of, say one month, to the post office, and from there to the citizen. In order to save public money on postage, applications and action taken reports can be bulk transferred, and the citizen can be asked to verify the action at the post office. The post office can maintain a register of application from citizens, and the action taken reports received from the electoral registration officials. Such a register can be kept open for public scrutiny during office hours. There can be common electoral rolls for all elections - legislative assembly and panchayat or municipality. The panchayat or municipal offices too can be made nodal agencies for display or supply of electoral rolls, supply of statutory forms, receipt of applications and communication of action taken reports. There can even be change of rules to make the panchayat or municipality responsible for revision of electoral rolls, addition or deletion of names, and correction of entries. In such cases, the process will be much simpler, as the post office and panchayat will be located in the same village. In case the decision of panchayat is unsatisfactory, there can be an appeal provision to the appropriate revenue officials. Display of electoral rolls on internet, supply of soft copies of electoral rolls in CD ROMs and availability of statutory forms on internet for down-loading are other means by which the process can be made more accessible and verifiable.

While this process of accessible and verifiable voter registration through the local post office involves simple and easy changes in procedures and rules, it will mark the most significant improvement in our electoral process at no additional cost. Even though a sizeable percentage of the voting population is illiterate, this accessible and verifiable voter registration will enable the literate population, civil society groups, voluntary organizations, and local political activists to verify the process and check irregularities. The very openness and accessibility of the voter lists and statutory forms will make a marked difference to electoral registration, and improve the quality of electoral rolls.