Registration of Electors Rules, 1960

Publication of roll in draft :

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 :

1. at his office, if it is within the constituency, and

2. at such place in the constituency as may be specified by him for the purpose, if his office is outside the constituency.

Further publicity to the roll and notice :

 The registration officer shall also -

1. 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;

2. give such publicity to the notice in Form 5 as he may consider necessary; and

3. supply free of cost tow 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.

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 behalf :

Provided that the Election Commission may, by notification in the Official Gazette, extend the period in respect of the constituency as a whole or in respect of any part thereof.

Form for claims and objections :

1. Every claim shall be - 

1. in Form 6; [and]

2. signed by the person desiring his name to be included in the roll;

2. Every objection to the inclusion of a name in the roll shall be – 

1. in Form 7; [and]

2. preferred only by a person whose name is already included in that roll;

3. Every objection to a particular or particulars in an entry in the roll shall be – 

1. in Form 8; and

2. preferred only by a person to whom that entry relates.

Manner of lodging claims and objections :

Every claim or objection shall – 

1. either be presented to the registration officer or to such other officer as may be designated by him in this behalf; or

2. be sent by Post to the registration officer.

Rejection of certain claims and objections :

Any claim or objection which is not lodged within the period, or in the form and manner, herein specified, shall be rejected by the registration officer.

Acceptance of claims and objections without inquiry :

If the registration officer is satisfied as the validity of any claim or objection, he may allow it without further inquiry after the expiry of one week from the date on which it is entered in the list exhibited by him under clause (b) of rule 16;

Provided that where before any such claim or objection has been allowed, a demand for inquiry has been made in writing to the registration officer by any person, it shall not be allowed without further inquiry.

Notice of hearing claims and objections :

1. Where a claim or objection is not disposed of under rule 17 or rule 18, the registration officer shall –

1. specify in the list exhibited by him under clause (b) of rule –16 the date, time and place of hearing of the claim or objection; and

2. give notice of the hearing – 

1. in the case of a claim to the claimant in form 12

2. in the case of an objection to the inclusion of a name, to the objector in Form 13 and to the person objected to in Form 14; and

3. in the case of an objection to a particular or particulars in an entry, the objector in Form 15.

2. A notice under this rule may be given either personally or by registered post or by affixing it to the person’s residence or last known residence within the constituency.

Inquiry into claims and objections :

1. The registration officer shall hold a summary inquiry into every claim or objection in respect of which notice has been given under rule 19 and shall record his decision thereon.

2. At the hearing, the claimant or as the case may be, the objector and the person objected to and any other person who, in the opinion of the registration officer, is likely to be of assistance to him, shall be entitled to appear and be heard.

3. The registration officer may in his discretion – 

1. require any claimant, objector or person objected to, to appear in person before him, 

2. require that the evidence tendered by any person shall be given on oath and administer an oath for the purpose.

Inclusion of names inadvertently omitted :

1. 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–

1. prepare a list of the names and other details of such electors :

2. 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 notice in such other manner as he may think fit; and 

3. 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.

2. If any statements under rule 7 are received after the publication of the roll in draft under rule 10, the registration officer shall direct the inclusion of the names of the electors covered by the statements in the appropriate parts of the roll.

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,

1. prepare a list of the names and other details of such electors;

2. 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

3. after considering any verbal or written objections that may be preferred, decide whether all or any of the names should be deleted form the roll:

Provided that before taking any action under this rule in respect of any person on the ground that he has ceased to be, or is not, ordinarily resident in the constituency, or is otherwise not entitled to be registered in that roll, the registration officer shall make every endeavour to give him a reasonable opportunity to show cause why the action proposed should not be taken in relation to him.

Final publication of roll :

1. The registration officer shall thereafter-

1. Prepare a list of amendments to carry out his decisions under rules 18, 20, 21 and 21A and to correct any clerical or printing errors or other inaccuracies subsequently discovered in the roll;

2. 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 at his office; [and]

3. subject to such general or special directions as may be given by the Election Commission supply, free of cost, tow copies of the roll, as finally published, with the list of amendments, if any, to every political party for which a symbol has been exclusively reserved by the Election Commission.

2. On such publication, the roll together with the list of amendments shall be the electoral roll of the constituency.

3. Where the roll (hereafter in this sub-rule referred to as the basic roll), together with the list of amendments, becomes the electoral roll for a constituency under sub-rule (2), the registration officer may, for the convenience of all concerned, integrate, subject to any general or special directions issued by the Election Commission in this behalf the list into the basic roll by incorporating inclusion of names, amendment, transposition or deletions of entries in the relevant parts of the basic roll itself in the relevant parts of the basic roll itself, so however that no change shall be made in the process of such integration in the name of any elector or in any particulars relating to any elector as given in the list of amendments.

Revision of rolls :

1. The roll for every constituency shall be revised under sub-section (2) of section 21 either intensively or summarily or partly intensively and partly summarily, as the Election Commission may direct.

2. Where the roll or any part thereof is to be revised intensively in any year, it shall be prepared afresh and rules 4 to 23 shall apply in relation to such revision as they apply in relation to the first preparation of a roll.

3. When the roll or any part thereof to be revised summarily in any year, the registration officer shall cause to be prepared a list of amendments to the relevant parts of the roll on the basis of such information as may be readily available and publish the roll together with the list of amendments in draft; and the provisions of rules 9 to 23 shall apply in relation to such revision as they apply in relation to the first preparation of roll.

4. Where at any time between the publication in draft of the revised roll under sub-rule (2) or of the roll and list of amendments under sub-rule (3) and the final publication of the same under rule 22, any names have been directed to be included in the roll for the time being in force under section 23 the registration officer shall cause the names to be included also in the revised roll unless there is, in his opinion, any valid objection to such inclusion.

Correction of entries and inclusion of names in electoral rolls :

1. Every application under section 22 or sub-section (1) of section 23 shall be made in duplicate in such one of the Forms 6, 8, 8A and 8B as may be appropriate

Provided that the statements in Forms 2, 2A and 3, from persons having service qualifications, received after the final publication of the electoral roll shall be deemed to be the applications under sections 22 and 23.

(1A) Every such application as is referred to in sub-rule (1) shall be presented to the registration officer in such manner as the Election Commission may direct.

3. The registration officer shall immediately on receipt of such application, direct that one copy thereof be posted in some conspicuous place in his office together with a notice inviting objections to such application within a period of seven days from the date of such posting.

4. The registration officer shall, as soon as may be after the expiry of the period specified in sub-rule (3), consider the application and objection and objections thereto, if any, received by him and shall, if satisfied direct the inclusion, deletion, correction or transposition of entries in the roll, as may be necessary : Provided that when an application is rejected by the registration officer, he shall record in writing a brief statement of his reasons for such rejection.