For the last two months, India is celebrating ‘Desh ka Mahatyohar’ (General Elections 2019). With elections happening, there is a surge in the volume of fake news. Fake news is not only being generated against the political parties but also regarding the election rules. One such news is that you can vote even if your vote is not on the voter list. A post on Facebook claims that if a person’s name is not on the voter list, then he can fill Form 7 and vote. Let’s try to analyze the claim made in the post.
Claim: “If you don’t have a voter card and also, name on the voter list, then just take two photos and a photo-ID card on the election day to the booth and fill Form 7, available at the polling station, to cast your vote.”
Fact: One cannot vote if his/her name is not on the electoral roll. Also, Form 7 deals with the deletion of voters, not the inclusion of voters. Hence the claim made in the post is FALSE
When searched about the provisions in the post on Google, it can be found that the Election Commission has clearly stated on its website that one can vote in the elections only if his/her name appears on the electoral roll/voter list.
The electoral rolls are regularly updated. So, if the name is not the electoral roll, a person can apply for the vote through Form 6. But, the electoral rolls are updated only till the last date of nomination filing by the candidates i.e. approximately 3 weeks before the elections. So, a person’s vote cannot be updated on the polling day.
Then, what is Form 7?
Form 7 deals with the deletion of names from the voter list, not addition. It deals mainly with three things:
- Objecting Inclusion of Name of Other Person
- Seeking Deletion of Own Name
- Seeking Deletion of Any Other Person’s Name in Electoral Roll due to Death/Shifting.
To sum it up, one cannot vote if his name is not on the voter list.
