Polity · 28 Aug 2026

right to vote statutory right electoral rolls

Consider the following statements:

  1. Booth Level Officers (BLOs) conduct door-to-door verification underlying the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls.
  2. As per the Election Commission's Manual on Electoral Rolls, a voter's name can be validly deleted merely on the ground of temporary absence from their place of ordinary residence.
  3. The right to vote in India is a fundamental right directly guaranteed under Article 326 of the Constitution.
  4. The Representation of the People Act, 1950 deals with matters relating to the preparation and revision of electoral rolls.
AOnly one
BOnly two
COnly three
DAll four
This question is based on: The Word That Decides Whether You Keep Your Vote
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About this question

Why in news

Draft SIR rolls in Telangana and Karnataka showed wildly inconsistent use of "Shifted" versus "Absent" deletion categories by BLOs, despite the EC manual's explicit protection for temporarily absent voters, raising disenfranchisement concerns.

Why for UPSC

This tests the classic UPSC distinction between a statutory and a fundamental/constitutional right - a frequently probed nuance around the right to vote - anchored in a live current-affairs controversy rather than abstract recall.

Prelims summary

The right to vote is a statutory right under the Representation of the People Acts, not a directly guaranteed fundamental right. The RPA, 1950 governs electoral rolls and delimitation; the RPA, 1951 governs conduct of elections. Temporary absence cannot legally justify deleting a voter's name.

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