New Delhi: The Election Commission of India filed a supplementary affidavit on Saturday (November 14), elaborating on processes currently being implemented to voters who have been incorrectly declared ‘absent, shifted, dead, or duplicate’ (ASDD) back on the voter rolls, and emphasising the poll-body’s commitment to ensuring that no eligible voter is left behind.As part of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise, an otherwise routine clean-up of electoral rolls, 13 crore names were deleted. Now, the EC has said that as of November 6, chief electoral officers of states where the SIR is ongoing have been instructed to permit voters to submit enumeration forms (Annexure A) to the electoral registration officer (ERO) or the assistant electoral registration officer (AERO). Moreover, voters who shifted within the state and yet did not make it on to the rolls do not have to submit Form 8, which is supposed to convey a change in address. “Electors who have not shifted may submit the signed Enumeration Form (Annexure A) with the Annexure B statement giving the reason for the earlier non-submission of the Enumeration Form. They can submit it to the ERO/AERO/BLO in person or through family members,” said the latest affidavit. Online submissions are also allowed. The commission also told the Supreme Court that directives have been to publicise booth-level lists of deleted voters, alongside the “probable reason” for their exclusion. Voters who have already submitted Form 6, the amendments to which have been at the core of the SIR-related tumult, do not have to re-submit enumeration forms. Their applications, the EC said, will be processed in alignment with the SC’s earlier assurance – no deleted voter will face criminal persecution. Notably, he EC’s use of Form 6, which is conventionally for new voters, for re-inclusion has been interpreted as controversial. Former Chief Election Commissioner S.Y. Quraishi has, in reference to the poll body’s announcement of special drives for re-inclusion, previously said, “Form 6 can’t be filled by a deleted voter. It’s only for NEW voters. All those who have been forced to fill it have committed criminal offence carrying one year prison. EC officials who forced them are abetters to crime. This press note shows ECI’s abetment!” Petitioner in the Supreme Court, transparency rights-activitst Anjali Bhardwaj and advocate Shailendra Mani Tripathi, who are represented by Prashant Bhushan, Neha Rathi, and Chand Qureshi had also spotlighted this purported misuse of Form 6. “A mechanism has also been directed to be put in place to ensure that no elector is deprived of the opportunity to get his/her name included in the final electoral roll, subject to fulfilment of the prescribed eligibility conditions, while taking due care to avoid duplication in enrolment,” submitted the EC. “The commission remains alive to the need to ensure that all those who are eligible to vote find their names in the voters’ lists,” it declared.The EC also clarified their stance on another controversy regarding the functioning of the poll body. According to two letters sent by Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi to the Cabinet Secretary, a Deputy Election Commissioner (DEC) responsible for routing files from the Director General (IT) was removed, after which files were being directly overseen by a Senior Deputy Election Commissioner, marking a critical violation of process. On November 2, a new DEC joined the commission, and on November 4, a new workflow arrangement was introduced. The DG (IT)’s files will be put through a senior Deputy Election Commissioner, the commission said.