Ranchi: Election Commission (EC) has approved the appointment of 311 additional assistant electoral registration officers (AEROs) across the state to expedite the disposal of claims, objections and discrepancies in voter rolls during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR). The hearing phase is scheduled to begin on Aug 24.Chief electoral officer (CEO) K Ravi Kumar said on Wednesday that the appointments were approved following proposals from district election officers seeking additional personnel to manage the workload during the claims and objections phase. The officers will remain in place until the SIR process is completed.The hearings will address anomalies in the electoral rolls, including “no-map” voters, logical inconsistencies and other discrepancies identified during verification. Officials said the additional AEROs would help ensure timely issuance of notices, conduct of hearings, scrutiny of supporting documents and transparent disposal of cases within the prescribed deadlines.“Districts had sought additional manpower for the period from Aug 5 to Oct 3, during which notices, hearings and related proceedings are being undertaken as part of the revision exercise. The proposals were forwarded to the EC, which has now accorded its approval,” Kumar said.Besides dealing with claims and objections, the additional AEROs will help meet other key objectives of the SIR exercise. These include linking members of the same family to a single polling station wherever applicable, facilitating the house-to-house “home-to-roll” verification exercise and improving the overall accuracy of electoral rolls.Kumar said the officers would also work to ensure that no eligible Indian citizen is excluded from the voter list while preventing the inclusion of foreign nationals.
