Booth Level Officer:
Concerns have been raised with several Booth Level Officers (BLOs) deaths that have been reported from the states undergoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
- The BLOs are representatives of the Election Commission of India (ECI) at the grass-root level who assist in updating the electoral roll using their local knowledge.
- They are local government officials who are familiar with the local electors and enrolled as voters in the same polling area.
- Teachers, Anganwadi workers, Panchayat Secretary, Village Level Workers, Electricity Bill Readers, etc are mainly appointed as BLOs.
- BLOs are not full-time electoral officials.
- Section 13B (2) of the Representation of People Act, 1950 provision paved the way for the introduction of appointing a BLO for the first time in August 2006.
- They play a significant role in the process of roll revision and collecting actual field information with regard to the roll corresponding to the polling area assigned to them.
- They maintain accuracy and fidelity of the electoral roll at the polling booth level.
- An important role of the BLO is the distribution of Voter Slips to the voters’ households before the poll day.
- BLOs inform the eligible Electors (senior citizens above 85 years & PwDs with benchmark certificate) about availing Home Voting Facility and Postal Ballot Facility by filling Form 12D.
- BLOs promote applications launched by the ECI to facilitate voting and ensure an accurate electoral roll.
- The popular voter oriented apps like Voter Helpline App, e-VIGIL app, Know you candidate app, Saksham-ECI.
