D Voters
- January 3, 2021
- Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
- Category: DPN Topics
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D Voters
Subject: Indian Polity
Context: A group of 100 volunteers from various fields have teamed up with lawyers to arm economically and educationally weak people with knowledge about their rights against victimisation in Assam as many have been categorised as “D Voters” or default voters.
Concept:
- D Voters is a category of voters in Assam whose citizenship has been doubtful (due to lack of citizenship credentials in form of supporting documents) or is under dispute.
- Foreigner Tribunal set up under Foreigner Tribunals order 1964 determines once status as D voters and such persons can’t hold voter I-card.
- Category was introduced in 1997 when the Election Commission of India (ECI) was revising the state’s voter list in the wake of huge immigration from Bangladesh.
- While ‘D’ voters continue to remain on Assam’s electoral roll, they cannot vote in an election unless their case is decided by a Foreigners’ Tribunal.