Shillong, Sep 30: Governor CH Vijayashankar has given his assent to the amendment to the voter rules in the Garo Hills Autonomous District Council (GHADC) to restrict electoral participation in council elections only to native tribal communities.
The amendment to the voter rules found in the Assam and Meghalaya Autonomous District (Constitution of District Council) Rules was passed by the GHADC on August 10 and the Governor granted assent on Monday. Formal notification was then published in the Meghalaya Gazette today.
The GHADC restricted the franchise after communal violence broke out in March this year, though there had long been a demand from certain pressure groups to prevent non-tribals from standing and voting in the district council polls.
The violence blew up after two non-tribals tried to register themselves as candidates in the GHADC elections, which they had always been able to do. However, once order was restored following the riots, the GHADC first made a new rule that, forthwith, all candidates must have a Scheduled Tribe certificate. The council then passed the amendment to restrict voting to tribals only. The GHADC election was delayed by six months, to October, though they may yet be postponed further.
As per the amendment a voter must be “a member of a Scheduled Tribe specified in the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order 1950, as amended from time to time, in relation to the State of Meghalaya.” The voting age was also brought down from 21 to 18.
There will now be a separate electoral roll for every constituency within the GHADC for elections to the council, prepared constituency-wise by the Returning Officer with reference to the new qualification and no person shall be entitled to vote unless his/her name is registered in the electoral roll of the constituency concerned.
