The history of electoral rolls manifests that hundred percent accuracy in an electoral roll is never achievable. Since the roll is a document of mobile element like human beings, errors and omissions shall always be there. But the errors and omissions must be within the acceptable limit.

The Electoral Rolls Ordinance, 1982 and the Rules made thereunder prescribe three different processes for preparation of electoral roll. The first process involves preparation of fresh roll. Under this process draft roll is prepared by the Registration Officer on the basis of particulars in respect of the voters collected by the enumerator by paying personal visit to each of the dwelling houses situated within an electoral area. The draft roll thus prepared is published by the Registration Officer in his office as well as at other conspicuous places of the constituency with a notice inviting claims and objections within 15 days next following the date of publication of the draft roll. The purpose of affording this opportunity to the affected persons by the law is to enable them to file claims or objections, as the case may be, with the Registration Officer for correction. Though this is a good opportunity for making the roll accurate, it is not utilized by the voters living at far-flung areas. Because of this reason, the purpose of this provision is defeated.

The second process has been prescribed by section 10 of the Ordinance which section provides that the electoral roll shall unless otherwise directed by the Commission for reason to be recorded in writing be revised in the prescribed manner by reference to the qualifying date (1st January of each year) before each election to an elective body. Though this provision does not provide for collection of particulars of voters by the enumerators by house to house visit, it requires publication of the current electoral roll as a draft inviting claims and objections from the aggrieved voters. Doing away with the provision of house to house visit by the enumerators for collection of information with regard to inhabitants of an electoral area has minimized enormously the scope of production of an accurate electoral roll. Because of this, the Election Commission prepared fresh electoral rolls in the past on the eve of each general election.

Another procedure has been provided under Rule 20 of the Electoral Rolls Rules, 1982 for correction and amendment of the current rolls. This rule authorizes the Registration Officer for updating the current electoral rolls following the prescribed procedure. Under the procedure if the name of a person eligible for enrolment does not appear in the current electoral roll, he may file a claim in prescribed manner with the Registration Officer and if such officer after due enquiry is satisfied that the claim is genuine, he may include the name of the claimant in the voters' list. The rule also authorizes the Registration Officer to delete the name of a person ineligible for enrolment from the current electoral roll. But this is not normally done by the Registration Officer suo-moto.

An objection against the appearance of name of an ineligible person in the electoral roll is required to be filed with the Registration Officer by a voter whose name is appearing in the same roll. Filing of an objection by a person registered as voter in the electoral roll other than the roll of the person against whom the objection is preferred is not permissible under the rule. The application of the procedure prescribed under Rule 20 has been proved to be inadequate for production of an accurate electoral roll. This system in comparison with the systems prescribed by the law and rules for preparation or revision of the existing electoral roll is less effective and inefficient in producing.

In compliance with the directive given by the Supreme Court while disposing of an appeal filed by the Election Commission, the Commission has updated the electoral roll prepared in 2000 following the procedures contained under rule 20 of the Electoral Rolls Rules, 1982 for using in the ensuing election. Despite their best efforts even beyond the limit of the rule, the Commission has failed to update the voters' list to the extent that may be acceptable to all. According to the general secretary of the Awami League, large scale over registration has taken place under this system inflating the number of voters by 14 million. This allegation finds support from the report published last year by the National Democratic Institute of America..

Though it cannot be said with authority in the absence of a physical verification the exact figure of ineligible voters, the experts think that the actual number of voters will be roughly by 10 million less than the number shown in the updated roll. The reason for this unusual increase in number of voters is multiple registration. While the registration staff namely, "Assisting Officer" visiting the dwelling houses of voters found it easy to get the prescribed form duly filled in by the claimants they failed to get the form of objections duly filled in by the voters. The result is that though millions of voters have been included in the list, the deletion of names of ineligible voters could not be possible in majority of the cases. In this context, it is relevant to mention here that a large number of voters enrolled in 2000 left their hired houses during the last five years and managed to get them enrolled at their new address, but their names in the electoral roll of their previous electoral area are still in existence, because their landlords, in majority of the cases, refused to fill objection form against their former tenants. This multiple registration is one of the major causes for unusual increase of voters. The law prohibits registration of a person in more than one electoral area. The law further makes it a punishable offence. Paying no head to this provision, most of the people living in the rented house either in the City Corporation or district town manage to get themselves registered as voter in the electoral roll of the City Corporation/district town as well as even the electoral roll of their ancestral home.

For the purpose of preparation of an accurate voters' list, the opportunity of multiple registration must be closed by amending the provision clause (d) of sub-section (1) of section 7 of the Electoral Rolls Ordinance, 1982.

Though the existing electoral roll has already received finality, still there is a strong demand from the 14-Party Alliance for undertaking a new operation by the Election Commission to make the existing voters' list accurate. In this context, it may be said that achieving further accuracy in the current electoral roll through the process prescribed under Rule 20 is not possible at this final stage. The only answer to the problem is the preparation of fresh roll, which requires at least a period of eight months. Further, in view of the provision existing under clause (5) of sub-rule(1) of rule 20 of the Electoral Rolls Rules, 1982 no amendment or correction can be made in the electoral roll after the announcement of the election schedule by the Commission. Under the circumstances, the door for further correction/ amendment of the electoral roll is closed. Hence, nation apparently has no alternative but to use the existing roll in its present form in the ensuing election.

There is no denying that an inaccurate voters' list provides a wide scope of impersonation. Since there is no time to make the list accurate, deployment of trained Polling Agents by the contesting candidates in polling booth may help stop impersonation. The polling agent for a booth should be selected from amongst the residents of the area. His duty shall be to identify the names of the persons who are either dead or have shifted their residence. On the basis of the findings, he should prepare the list of dead and absentee voters and carry it with him to the booth for the purpose of identifying who is fake and who is real voter. The scope of impersonation by following this process can be eliminated completely.

The author is Executive Director of FEMA and a former Deputy Secretary of Election Commission.