NT Reporter
Margao
South Goa district collector and district election officer Egna Cleetus on Wednesday said booth-level officers (BLOs) have no mandate to insist on any documentation from voters until December 4 during the ongoing Special Intensified Revision (SIR)
exercise.
Her clarification followed allegations by Congress leader and Citizens for Democracy Goa convener Elvis Gomes, who said a BLO had demanded a passport copy from a voter in Margao while collecting enumeration forms.
“We have ascertained that the female voter to whom Gomes refers voluntarily presented her expired passport to the BLO. Upon informing her that the passport had lapsed, the matter was raised. The BLOs, as well as the district election officer, are not permitted to insist on any documentation from voters during the distribution and collection of forms until December 4. However, beginning December 5, we will commence the verification of documents to address the citizenship concerns and scrutinise the credentials of any suspicious voters as
we process these forms,”
she said.
Gomes filed a complaint on Wednesday, stating that the BLO in Part No. 42 of Margao had claimed she was acting on instructions from her “higher-up”, later identified as a deputy collector.
“If this is a line of action pursued, one can imagine the outcome of this SIR. This serious misconduct where the so-called ‘higher-up’s’ neutrality is apparently compromised calls for immediate investigation as it goes contrary to ECI guidelines that no document is required to be submitted,’’ Gomes said.
He urged the district election officer to relieve the deputy collector in question and suspend any officials who may have issued similar instructions, warning that otherwise voters risk being unfairly deleted from the rolls, rendering the SIR “a farce perpetrated upon the electorate”.
Asked about the allegation, Cleetus said she had received a report from the deputy collector and would “verify the information and proceed with necessary further actions”.
