Mumbai, Oct 18 (NationPress) The Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of Maharashtra, S Chocklingam, has refuted allegations from opposition parties claiming that the voter lists are manipulated at certain times by individuals external to the Election Commission.

The CEO issued an extensive eight-page statement, emphasizing, “The ongoing process of correcting errors in the voter lists for assembly constituencies is facilitated through a highly secure portal provided by the Election Commission of India. Only the designated voter registration officers are empowered to amend the voter list. No political party representatives have any affiliations with the office of the Chief Electoral Officer or the Election Commission of India. Thus, the information being spread is entirely unfounded.”

This clarification comes after a delegation from the opposition met with him on October 14 and subsequently with the state election commissioner on October 15, urging for the postponement of local and civic body elections until the discrepancies in the voter lists are rectified. They raised alarms regarding irregularities present in the voter lists.

As per the statement, the State Election Commission has released the voter list as of July 1, 2025, inviting claims and objections concerning local self-government elections. A deadline has been set for these claims and objections.

The published list indicates that if there are duplicate entries, or inaccuracies in name, age, or address, corrections must be made. In such cases, the respective voter registration officer of the Legislative Assembly constituency will conduct an inquiry based on the applications received.

“In Maharashtra, there are approximately 9.8 crore voters, distributed across around 100,000 polling stations. The electoral registration officers possess full authority to execute corrections, additions, or deletions within the voter list,” the statement noted.

There are 288 electoral registration officers in the state, along with deputy divisional officer-level officials and assistant electoral registration officers at the Tahsiladar rank. The voter registration process adheres to the guidelines established by the Representation of the People Act, the Electoral Registration Rules, and the directives of the Election Commission of India,” the release stated.

Both the Election Commission of India and the State Election Commission operate as independent statutory entities. According to constitutional provisions, the State Election Commission holds the responsibility for preparing voter lists for elections to local self-governing bodies within the state.

“As per the regulations governing local self-governing bodies in the state, the voter list prepared by the Election Commission of India for state legislative assembly elections is utilized by the State Election Commission for local body elections,” the statement added.

“For the forthcoming local self-government elections overseen by the State Election Commission, the electoral rolls of the Assembly constituencies, updated until 01.07.2025, have been secured from the Election Commission of India and certified by the State Election Commission through the District Administration,” the release stated.

If a voter relocates, they must apply for voter registration at their new address using Form 8. Initially, the voter's name will be added at the new location, with the new constituency's voter registration officer overseeing this process. Once the entry is completed, the original voter registration officer will handle the deletion of the voter's previous location based on Form 7. Rigorous measures are taken to prevent any duplication of voter names. Thus, there may be instances where a voter appears in two locations temporarily, as noted in the statement.

The CEO mentioned that following October 2024, the Election Commission of India will initiate a summary revision of the Assembly electoral rolls.

Each month from November 2024 to September 2025, a summary detailing the inclusions, deletions, and corrections within each electoral roll will be accessible on the Chief Electoral Officer of Maharashtra's website, formatted as per the Election Commission of India's guidelines.

This initiative aims to ensure that recognized political parties can relay this information to their members effectively.

Under the special revision program conducted by the Election Commission of India, efforts to incorporate new entries, deletions, and corrections in the Assembly electoral rolls will proceed through specialized revisions.