Preparing an accurate voters list

The existing law provides that if a person is qualified to become a voter, his name shall be enrolled, on application, by the registration staff in the electoral roll of the electoral area where he ordinarily resides. The law further provides that a government servant or a holder of public office not withstanding this provision may exercise his option for registration of his name at the place of his work. The law also provides that the spouse or the children of such a government servant or a holder of public office shall be eligible for registration in the electoral roll where he/she his enrolled as voter, if they are not otherwise disqualified for such enrolment.

The legal position for registration as mentioned in the foregoing paragraph clearly indicates that subject to the exercise of option only the government servants and the holders of public office along with their spouses and qualified children are entitled to enrolment at the place of their duty and not others. As per provision of the law, the persons outside the said two categories are entitled to enrolment in the voters list of the electoral area where their permanent homesteads are located.

In contravention of the above quoted provision of the Ordinance, the names of the persons who did not fall within the categories of the government servants and the holders of public office, were registered by the registration staff as voters in the electoral rolls of the City Corporations or the Municipalities where they were temporarily residing in connection with their work or profession. This illegal registration had always taken place in the past due to lack of rigid enforcement of provisions of the law in this behalf.

The law as it stands today, does not permit enrolment of employees of the semi-government organisations, autonomous bodies, banks, insurance companies, NGOs, business organisations, firms, etc., in the electoral rolls of the electoral areas falling within the jurisdiction of the City Corporation or Municipalities where they are stationed temporarily in connection with their professions or business. Not withstanding this legal bar, a great majority of them were registered in the past by the registration staff in the electoral roll of the electoral areas forming the part and parcel of the City Corporation or Municipality. The matter did not end there.

In addition to their enrolment at the place of their work in the City Corporation or in the Municipality, a considerable number of them managed their enrolment fraudulently in the electoral areas where their permanent homesteads (place of ordinary residence) were situated by filing a false declaration with the registration staff to the effect that they had not filed application for registration in any other place of the country. This fraudulent practice did not only inflate the total number of voters in the country by millions, but also created vast opportunity for large scale impersonation which substantially affected the fairness of the poll. In the interest of free, fair and credible election, the Election Commission therefore must not allow the continuance of this illegal practice while preparing fresh voters list for use in the up-coming general election.

The discontinuation of the said illegal practice might face vehement opposition from those who reaped its benefit in the past. In such a situation, the Commission shall have to take strong stand for the enforcement of the law. If the Commission can do it, the accuracy in the new voters list will enhance to a great extent.

The other remedy for the prevention of multiple registration of a person in more than one place lies in the amendment of Section 7 and 8 of the Electoral Rolls Ordinance 1982. If the Commission is unable to implement the existing provision of the said sections in letter and sprit, it may amendment the provisions of the said sections making eligible all citizen qualified for enrolment in the voters list of the electoral areas where they are physically and not hypothetically living for an indefinite period. As a measure of safeguard against multiple registration, a new provision should be inserted in the law providing that a person of a rural area when residing in the urban area in connection with his service or business or for any other reason he must, if he is interested in registration in the electoral area where his permanent homestead is located, produce a certificate from the Registration Officer under whose jurisdiction his urban residence is located stating that he has neither been registered nor has applied for registration at the place of his work. This will check multiple registration of the persons who have permanent houses at their birth place in the rural area, but residing in the urban area in connection with the earning of their livelihood.

The existing section 7 of the Ordinance prescribes the qualifications of a person necessary for registration in a voter list of an electoral area. According to the prescription contained in this section, the registration officer shall include a name of a person in the draft voters list if he, a) s a citizen of Bangladesh; b) is not less than 18 years of age; c) does not stand declared by a competent court to be of unsound mind; and d) is or is deemed to be a resident of that electoral area.

The provisions, contained in clause (c) and (d) are neither straight nor self-explanatory. Clause (c) states that a man declared mentally unsound by a competent court is ineligible for enrolment as a voter. This is an absurd provision. None can quote a single instance where the Court of its own has declared a person lunatic. Further, the provision under clause (d) is beyond the comprehension not only of the registration staff but also of the lawyers. The words "is deemed to be a resident" contained in this clause is alone responsible for registration of a person in more than one electoral area. Then again sub-section (2) of section 8 which qualifies a government servant and the holder of a public office for registration at the place of his work is discriminatory because it hits article 19 of the Constitution which states that "The State shall endeavour to ensure equality of opportunity to all citizens". It also hits section 27 of the Constitution which lays down that "All citizens are equal before law and are entitled to equal protection of law". In order to remove the ambiguity as well as to ensure equal opportunity to all, Section 7 of the Ordinance should be substituted by the following: "7, The Registration Officer for the electoral area shall, subject to the direction and control of the Commission prepare for that electoral area in the prescribed manner a draft electoral roll containing the names who, a) is a citizen of Bangladesh; b) is not less than eighteen years of age; c) is not of unsound mind; d) is a resident of that electoral area and has not been registered or applied for registration in any other electoral area; e) is normally living within the area of a City Corporation or a Municipality in connection with the earning of his livelihood and has furnished a certificate from the concerned Registration Officer under whose jurisdiction his urban residence is located to the effect that he has not been registered as voter nor has submitted any application for his registration in any electoral area under his jurisdiction."

In order to bring it in conformity with the above suggestion clause (1) of section 8 of the Ordinance which provides "save as hereinafter provided, a person shall be deemed to be resident in an electoral area or constituency if he ordinarily resides in that electoral area or constituency" shall be omitted from the existing law.

Further, sub-rule (3) of rule 10 of the Electoral Rolls Rules, 1982 which provides that "No person shall prefer an objection to the inclusion of any name in the electoral roll unless his name appears in the electoral roll for that electoral area." This provision narrows down the scope of filing objection against the inclusion of names of unqualified persons in the draft rolls. In the interest of creation of an accurate voters list, the scope for filing objections should be widened by substituting the existing provision by the following: "3, Any citizen of Bangladesh may prefer an objection to the inclusion of name of an unqualified person in the electoral roll of any electoral area".

Under the existing law a person seeking enrolment is required to file a statement (in Form-2) with the registration staff furnishing certain particulars required for registration. While furnishing the statement, he is required to make a declaration under oath that the particulars furnished in the statement are true and that he has not filed any other statement in addition to the one he is now submitting for registration of his name in any other electoral roll. Making of false declaration under section 18 of the Ordinance is an offence punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to 6 months or with fine upto taka 1000/- or with both.

The punishment prescribed in the law is not enough to deter a person from making a false declaration for the purpose of inclusion of his name in more than one electoral roll. Hence, the term of punishment should be increased from 6 months to 3 years dropping the provision of fine. Further to this, the form prescribed for collection of information from a voter should indicate the term of imprisonment for making false declaration so that every person while filling the form may know the consequence of making false declaration. This will act as a safeguard to a larger extent.

The suggested measures if adopted will make the provisions of Section 7 and 8 of the Ordinance clear and easily understandable to the registration staff and others minimizing, at the sometime, the chances of multiple registration which is the root cause not only for exaggeration of the total number of voters by six to eight millions but also for impersonation or bogus voting. It will further solve the problem of registration of the duellers of the slums in the city or town whose registration is not permissible under the existing provisions of the law.

The quality of the voters list shall further be improved if the Commission creates an atmosphere to monitor the registration process by the election monitoring organisations. Under the proposed arrangement, the Commission will have to supply a copy of the draft list to be published by it along with a copy of the voters list now in force to the monitoring organisations. The volunteer to be involved in the monitoring of the registration process shall visit with one copy each of the draft list and the current list each household of a constituency and verify whether the names of every person eligible for enrolment as voter of that household has been included in the draft roll or not by the registration staff. He will, at the same time, check whether the draft roll includes the names of ineligible or dead persons. After completion of the verification, the monitor shall prepare a detailed report on his findings which will be sent by his organisation to the concerned Registration Officer as well as to the Commission to rectify the omissions and commissions in the draft list in a manner prescribed by the rules.

The aforementioned task involves expenditure which in the interest of accurate and flawless voters list may either be borne by the Election Commission itself out of the fund to provided to it by the government or by the development partners many of whom, it is believed, be pleased to do so in the interest of preparation of correct voters list for using in the upcoming general election. The co-operation of the Commission may help in getting the fund from the development partners by the monitoring organisations easily.

The recommendations made in this article if implemented will surely go a long way in creation of a voters list with maximum accuracy which could be the only basis for holding free, fair and credible election needed for the formation of legitimate and efficient government.

Burhanuddin Ahmed is the Executive Director of FEMA and a former Deputy Secretary of Election Commission.