Chief Electoral Officer directs collectors against poll violators

Chennai: Chief Electoral Officer Sandeep Saxena on Tuesday has forwarded a list of 164 voters convicted by district magistrates for poll related violations asking district collectors to remove the names of electors booked for poll related violations. The instruction from the CEO comes a day after a petition by Federation for Sustainable Development (FSD), a social welfare group alleging that despite various courts convicting poll related offenders during 2011 general Assembly polls and 2014 Lok Sabha polls, the names of offenders continue to figure in the photo electoral rolls violating the election code.   

In his complaint M. Loganathan, convenor, FSD said during the past two general assembly and Lok Sabha polls several voters were booked for poll related violations like trying to caste bogus votes, receiving and distributing cash for votes and trespassing restricted polling areas.

So far various courts have convicted 164 voters for poll related violations under section 171 (E) and (F) that deals with offences related to bribery and there are another 243 pending court cases against violators spread across 28 districts. Despite submitting a memorandum in 2014 on the issue, the names of convicted persons continue to figure in photo electoral rolls.Those convicted for poll violations should be barred from election process for six years, but no action has been taken up so far in this regard, hence the fresh complaint, Loganathan said.