UNIVERSITY INSTITUTE OF LEGAL STUDIES, PANJAB UNIVERSITY
CHANDIGARH
ELECTION LAW PROJECT ON
TOPIC- PREPARATION OF ELECTORAL ROLLS FOR ASSEMBLY AND
PARLIAMENTARY CONSTITUENCIES
SUBMITTED TO- Ms. Nehmat Bajwa
SUBMITTED BY
SAKSHI ARORA
BALLB (9 SEM)
SECTION – A
54/18
2022-2023
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I extend my heartfelt thanks to my teacher and mentor Ms. Nehmat Bajwa for giving
me an opportunity to work on this project which helped me to gain extensive
knowledge. During the making of the project, I came across many things apart from the
syllabus which proved to be a great learning experience for me. I thank sir for guiding
and helping me at all times. Without his support I would have not been able to
complete this project report.
Last but not the least; I thank my friends and my batchmates for their help and support!
-SAKSHI ARORA
INDEX
Sr. No. Topic Page
No.
1. Introduction 4
2. Types of electoral roll 5
3. Procedure of preparation of electoral roll 6
4. When an electoral roll has to be prepared 7
5. Preparation of electoral roll 8
6. Publication of final draft 9
7. Claims and objection 9
8. Inadvertence or error 10
9. Appeals 12
10. Conclusion 14
PREPARATION OF ELECTORAL ROLLS FOR ASSEMBLY AND PARLIAMENTARY
CONSTITUENCIES
INTRODUCTION
An electoral roll (variously called an electoral register, voters roll, poll book or other
description) is a compilation that lists persons who are entitled to vote for particular elections in
a particular jurisdiction. The list is usually broken down by electoral districts, and is primarily
prepared to assist election officials at polling places. Most jurisdictions maintain permanent
electoral rolls, which are updated continuously or periodically (such as France which updates
them annually), while some jurisdictions compile new electoral rolls before each election.
Electoral rolls are the result of a process of voter registration. In most jurisdictions, voter
registration (and being listed on an electoral roll) is a prerequisite for voting at an election
Electoral rolls and voter registration serve a number of functions, especially to streamline voting
on election day. Voter registration can be used to detect electoral fraud by enabling authorities
to verify an applicant's identity and entitlement to a vote, and to ensure a person doesn't vote
multiple times. In jurisdictions where voting is compulsory, the electoral roll is used to indicate
who has failed to vote. In some jurisdictions, people to be selected for jury or other civil duties
are chosen from an electoral roll. 1
Most jurisdictions close updating of electoral rolls some period, commonly 14 or 28 days, before
an election, but some jurisdictions may allow registration at the same time as attending a polling
station to vote; Australia closes its rolls seven days after an election is called, rather than with
reference to the election day.
HISTORY OF ELECTORAL ROLES
Traditionally, electoral rolls were maintained in paper form, either as loose-leaf folders or in
printed pages, but nowadays electronic electoral rolls are increasingly being adopted. Similarly,
the number of countries adopting biometric voter registration has steadily increased. As of 2016,
1
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electoral_roll#cite_note-6
4
half of the countries in Africa and Latin America use biometric technology for their electoral
rolls.2
ELECTORAL ROLLS IN INDIA
In India, publishing and updating of the electoral roll is the responsibility of the Election
Commission of India, each state's chief electoral officers, and each state's election commission.
These government bodies update and publish the electoral roll every year, making it available for
download from official government websites.
Total voters in India as on 1 January 2019 3
Total voters: 866,913,278.
Men: 451,966,704.
Women: 414,912,901.
Third gender: 33,673.
TYPES OF ELECTORAL ROLLS
FOR PARLIAMENTARY CONSTITUENCY – It shall consist of the electoral roll for
all the assembly constituency comprised within the parliamentary constituency and it is
not necessary to prepare or revise separate electoral roll for any such parliamentary
constituency. REPRENTATION OF PEOPLE ACT 1950 PART IIB contains
SECTION 13D. Electoral rolls for parliamentary constituencies.— (1) The electoral roll for
every parliamentary constituency, other than a parliamentary constituency in the State of Jammu
and Kashmir or in a Union territory not having a Legislative Assembly, shall consist of the
electoral rolls for all the assembly constituencies comprised within that parliamentary
constituency; and it shall not be necessary to prepare or revise separately the electoral roll for
any such parliamentary constituency:
2
https://www.idea.int/data-tools/data/icts-elections
3
https://eci.gov.in/files/
5
Provided that for the period referred to in clause (2) of article 371A, it shall be necessary
to prepare and revise separately the electoral roll for that part of the parliamentary
constituency of Nagaland which comprises the Tuensang district and the provisions of
Part III shall apply in relation to the preparation and revision of the electoral roll of the
said part as they apply in relation to an assembly constituency.
(2) The provisions of Part III shall apply in relation to every parliamentary constituency
in the State of Jammu and Kashmir or in a Union territory not having a Legislative
Assembly as they apply in relation to an assembly constituency4.
FOR ASSEMBLY CONSTITUENCY – It is a detailed procedure which is laid down in
REPRENTATION OF PEOPLE ACT 1950- PART III B and REGISTRATION OF
ELECTION RULES 1960 for preparation of assembly constituency electoral roll.
PROCEDURE OF PREPARATION OF ELECTORAL ROLL
QUALIFICATION
SECTION 19 of REPRENTATION OF PEOPLE ACT 1950- Every person who —
(a) is not less than [eighteen years] of age on the qualifying date, and
(b) is ordinarily resident in a constituency, shall be entitled to be registered in the
electoral roll for that constituency
A person shall not be deemed to be ordinarily resident in a constituency on the ground
only that he owns, or is in possession of, a dwelling house therein. (1A) A person absenting
himself temporarily from his place of ordinary residence shall not by reason thereof cease to
be ordinarily resident therein. 5
DISQUALIFICATION
A person shall be disqualified for registration in an electoral roll if he—
(a) is not a citizen of India; or
4
https://legislative.gov.in/sites/default/files/03_representation%20of%20the%20people%20act%2C%201950.pdf
5
Section 20 REPRENTATION OF PEOPLE ACT 1950
6
(b) is of unsound mind and stands so declared by a competent court; or
(c) is for the time being disqualified from voting under the provisions of any law relating to
corrupt practices and other offences in connection with elections.
(2) The name of any person who becomes so disqualified after registration shall forthwith be
struck off the electoral roll in which it is included:
[Provided that the name of any person struck off the electoral roll of a constituency by
reason of a disqualification under clause (c) of sub-section (1) shall forthwith be re-instated
in that roll if such disqualification is, during the period such roll is in force, removed under
any law authorising such removal.] 6
WHEN AN ELECTORAL ROLL HAS TO BE PREPARED?
The said electoral roll—
(a) shall, unless otherwise directed by the Election Commission for reasons to be recorded in
writing, be revised in the prescribed manner by reference to the qualifying date—
(i) before each general election to the House of the People or to the Legislative Assembly of a
State; and
(ii) before each bye-election to fill a casual vacancy in a seat allotted to the constituency; and
(b) shall be revised in any year in the prescribed manner by reference to the qualifying date if
such revision has been directed by the Election Commission 7
PREPARATION OF ELECTORAL ROLL (FIRST DRAFT)
PREPARATION OF ELECTORAL ROLL IN PARTS -The roll shall be divided into
convenient parts which shall be numbered consecutively. The number of names included
in any part of the roll shall not ordinarily exceed two thousand. 8
6
Section 16 REPRENTATION OF PEOPLE ACT 1950
7
Section 21 REPRENTATION OF PEOPLE ACT 1950
8
Rule 5 REGISTRATION OF ELECTORAL RULES 1960
7
ORDER OF NAMES - The names of electors in each part of the roll shall be arranged
according to house number, unless the chief electoral officer, subject to any general or
special instructions issued by the Election Commission, determines in respect of any part
that the alphabetical order is more convenient or that the names shall be arranged partly
in one way and partly in the other. The names of electors in each part of the roll shall be
numbered, so far as practicable, consecutively with a separate series of numbers
beginning with the number one.9
GATHERING OF INFORMATION -Information to be supplied by occupants of
dwelling-houses.—The registration officer may, for the purpose of preparing the roll,
send letters of request in Form 4 to the occupants of dwelling-houses in the constituency
or any part thereof; and every person receiving any such letter shall furnish the
information called for therein to the best of his ability 10
PUBLICATION OF DRAFT ROLL
As soon as the roll for a constituency is ready, the registration officer shall publish it in
draft by making a copy thereof available for inspection and displaying a notice in Form 5—
(a) at his office, if it is within the constituency, and
(b) at such place in the constituency as may be specified by him for the purpose, if his office
is outside the constituency ; [or in the official website of the Chief Electoral Officer of the
concerned State]11
Further publicity to the roll and notice.—The registration officer shall also—
(a) make a copy of each separate part of the roll, together with a copy of the
notice in Form 5 available for inspection at a specified place accessible to
the public and in or near the area to which that part relates;
9
Rule 6 REGISTRATION OF ELECTORAL RULES 1960
10
Rule 8 REGISTRATION OF ELECTORAL RULES 1960
11
Rule 10 REGISTRATION OF ELECTORAL RULES 1960
8
(b) give such further publicity to the notice in Form 5 as he may consider
necessary; and
(c) supply free of cost two copies of each separate part of the roll to every
political party [for which a symbol has been exclusively reserved in the
State] by the Election Commission. 12
CLAIMS AND OBJECTIONS
Period for lodging claims and objections—Every claim for the inclusion of a name in
the roll and every objection to an entry therein shall be lodged within a period of thirty
days from the date of publication of the roll in draft under rule 10, or such shorter
period of not less than fifteen days as may be fixed by the Election Commission in this
behalf13
Manner of lodging claims and objections.—Every claim or objection shall—
(a) either be presented to the registration officer or to such other officer as may be
designated by him in this behalf; or
(b) be sent by post to the registration officer.
PROCEDURE OF ENQUIRY INTO CLAIMS AND OBJECTION
IF FILED BEFORE DESIGNATED OFFICER :- Every such officer shall maintain a list of
objection and he shall forward it with such remarks , as he considered proper to registration
officer.14
BY REGISTRATION OFFICER:- He shall maintain a copy of every claim and objection as
and when received by him whether directly or forwarded by designated officer and keep a copy
of each such list entitled on a notice board in his office 15.
12
Rule 11 REGISTRATION OF ELECTORAL RULES 1960
13
Rule 12 REGISTRATION OF ELECTORAL RULES 1960
14
Rule 15 REGISTRATION OF ELECTORAL RULES 1960
15
Rule 16 REGISTRATION OF ELECTORAL RULES 1960
9
DECIDING ON CLAIM AND OBJECTION
REJECTION – Any claim and objection not lodged within the period or form shall be rejected
ACCEPTANCE – If officer is satisfied to validity of any claim , he shall allow it without further
inquiry after the expiry of one week from date on which it is entered in list.
NOTICE OF HEARING CLAIMS AND OBJECTIONS
When a claim neither rejected nor accepted registration officer shall specify a time , place and
date of hearing claim and objection and give notice of hearing . 16
The notice may be given personally or by registered post or by affixing on person residence or
last known residence within constituency.
The Registration officer shall hold on summary inquiry into every claim and objection in respect
of which notice has been given and shall record his decision thereon.
The registration officer may in his discretion— (a) require any claimant, objector or person
objected to, to appear in person before him; (b) require that the evidence tendered by any person
shall be given on oath and administer an oath for the purpose.17
INADVERTENCE OR ERROR
Inclusion of names -If it appears to the registration officer that owing to inadvertence or error
during preparation, the names of any electors have been left out of the roll and that remedial
action should be taken under this rule, the registration officer shall—
(a) Prepare a list of the names and other details of such electors; (b) exhibit on the notice board
of his office a copy of the list together with a notice as to the time and place at which the
inclusion of these names in the roll will be considered, and also publish the list and the
16
Rule 19 REGISTRATION OF ELECTORAL RULES 1960
17
Rule 20 REGISTRATION OF ELECTORAL RULES 1960
10
notice in such other manner as he may think fit; and (c) after considering any verbal or
written objections that may be preferred, decide whether all or any of the names should be
included in the roll. 18
Deletion of names.—If it appears to the registration officer at any time before the final
publication of the roll that owing to inadvertence or error or otherwise, the names of dead
persons or of persons who have ceased to be, or are not, ordinarily residents in the
constituency or of persons who are otherwise not entitled to be registered in that roll, have
been included in the roll and that remedial action should be taken under this rule, the
registration officer, shall (a) prepare a list of the names and other details of such electors; (b)
exhibit on the notice board of his office a copy of the list together with a notice as to the time
and place at which the question of deletion of these names from the roll will be considered,
and also publish the list and the notice in such other manner as he may think fit; and(c) after
considering any verbal or written objections that may be preferred, decide whether all or any
of the names should be deleted from the roll. 19
FINAL PUBLICATION OF THE ROLL
The registration officer shall thereafter— (a) prepare a list of amendments to carry out his
decisions and to correct any clerical or printing errors or other inaccuracies subsequently
discovered in the roll
(b) publish the roll, together with the list of amendments, by making a complete copy
thereof available for inspection and displaying a notice in Form 16
On such publication, the roll together with the list of amendments shall be the electoral
roll of the constituency
Election Commission supply, free of cost, two copies of the roll, as finally published, with
the list of amendments, if any, to every political party for which a symbol.20
18
Rule 21 REGISTRATION OF ELECTORAL RULES 1960
19
Rule 21A REGISTRATION OF ELECTORAL RULES 1960
20
Rule 22 REGISTRATION OF ELECTORAL RULES 1960
11
APPEALS
An appeal shall lie from any decision of the registration officer to such officer of
Government as the Election Commission may designate in this behalf.
An appeal shall not lie where the person desiring to appeal has not availed himself of his
right to be heard by, or to make representations to, the registration officer on the matter
which is the subject of appeal.
Every appeal under shall be— (a) in the form of a memorandum signed by the appellant, and
(b) presented to the appellate officer within a period of fifteen days from the date of
announcement of the decision or sent to that officer by registered post so as to reach him
within that period. Every decision of the appellate officer shall be final, but in so far as it
reverses or modifies a decision of the registration officer, shall take effect only from the date
of the decision in appeal. The registration officer shall cause such amendments to be made in
the roll as may be necessary to give effect to the decisions of the appellate officer under this
rule.21
Special provision for preparation of rolls on redelimitation of constituencies .—
(1) If any constituency is delimited a new in accordance with law and it is necessary urgently to
prepare the roll for such constituency, the Election Commission may direct that it shall be
prepared— (a) by putting together the rolls of such of the existing constituencies or parts thereof
as are comprised within the new constituency; and (b) by making appropriate alterations in the
arrangement, serial numbering and headings of the rolls so compiled.
The roll prepared shall be published in same manner as provided for final publication of roll and
as such roll shall on publication be electoral roll for new constituency . 22
OVERSEAS CITIZEN
Every Indian citizen -
21
Rule 23 REGISTRATION OF ELECTORAL RULES 1960
22
Rule 24 REGISTRATION OF ELECTORAL RULES 1960
12
Whose name is not included in the electoral roll
Who has not acquired citizenship of any country and
Who is absent from his place of ordinary residence in India owing to his employment ,
education or otherwise outside India
shall be entitled to have his name registered in the electoral roll in constituency in which he
has his place of residence in India
Any overseas citizen can apply under rule 8A and 8B of REGISTERATION OF ELECTORAL
RULES 1960 and get himself registered in electoral roll.
CASE LAW
Lakshmi Charan Sen And Ors Etc vs A.K.M. Hassan Uzzaman And Ors. 23
FACTS OF THE CASE -A writ petition was filed in the Calcutta High Court claiming the
following reliefs: (1) That the Chief Election Commissioner and the Chief Electoral Officer be
restrained from acting, either by themselves or through their subordinates, in pursuance of the
instructions or directions issued by them from time to time; (ii) that they should be restrained
from scoring out any names from the electoral rolls which were finally published; (iii) that they
should be restrained from issuing or publishing any notification under s. 15 (2) of the
Representation of People Act of 1951 without preparing the electoral rolls de novo after the
disposal of the appeals against orders whereby claims and objections were decided; and (iv) that
they should be restrained from holding elections to the West Bengal Legislative Assembly until
the disposal of all the claims, objections and appeals under the Representation of People Acts of
1950 and 1951and the Calcutta HC granted ad interim relief to the petitioners .
HELD- That the According to sub-rule (3) of rule 23 Or the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960,
the "presentation of an appeal shall not have the effect of staying or postponing any action to be
taken by the Registration Officer under rules 22. Rule 22 imposes A upon the Registration
Officer the obligation to publish the electoral roll which, together with the list of amendments,
becomes the electoral roll of the constituency. Thus, the fact that an appeal is pending under rule
23 (1) against the decision of a Registration Officer under rule 20, 21 or 21A does not constitute
23
1985 AIR 1233
13
an impediment to the publication of the roll and to the roll, upon such publication, coming into
force. Electoral roll has to be revised extensively and summarily and further held that Rule 22 of
REGISTRATION OF ELECTORAL RULES 1960 imposes obligation to publish electoral roll
with the list of amendments.
CONCLUSION
The electoral roll of a constituency is a list of all those people in that constituency who are
registered to vote in the elections. Only those people whose names are there in the electoral rolls
are allowed to vote as ‘electors’. The electoral roll is normally revised every year to add the
names of those who are not less than 18 on a qualifying date years as on the first day of January
of that year, or have moved into the constituency, and to remove the names of those who have
died or moved out of the constituency. The updating of electoral rolls is a continuous process,
which is interrupted only at the time of the elections during the period from after the last date of
filing nominations till the completion of the elections. The administrative machinery involved in
the preparation, maintenance and revision of the electoral rolls has the ECI at the top of the
hierarchy. According to Section 13B of the Representation of the People Act, 1950, the electoral
roll for each constituency in a State/UT is to be prepared and revised by an Electoral Registration
Officer (ERO). At the bottom of the hierarchy, Booth Level Officers (BLOs) and supervisors are
also appointed.
14
REFERENCES
https://eci.gov.in/about/about-eci/the-functions-electoral-system-of-india-r2/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electoral_roll
https://www.idea.int/data-tools/data/icts-elections
Abhinav Prakash, Law Relating to Election Laws (Universal Law Publishing, New
Delhi, 2nd edn., 2010)
Dr. P. Rathna Swamy, Handbook on Election Law, (Lexis Nexis, Gurugram Ist
edn. 2014)
STATUES-
REGISTRATION OF ELECTORAL RULES 1960
REPRENTATION OF PEOPLE ACT 1950
15
