The Election Commission's ambitious web-based project ERO-Net, for online registration of voters, was launched across Jharkhand on Wednesday.

The virtual platform, revived recently, will now allow every citizen in Ranchi, Jamshedpur, Dhanbad and elsewhere to enrol for a voter ID and rectify errors in entries online. The system, open round-the-year, is expected to check inaccuracies and duplicity.

Chief electoral officer L. Khiangte launched ERO-Net statewide from his Dhurwa office in Ranchi. "ERO-Net is aimed at maintaining healthy electoral rolls and efficient conduct of elections. It will offer various services to external stakeholders while improving efficacy of internal stakeholders," he said.

Underscoring the benefits of the system, Khiangte said people could now easily register for enrolment in the voter list, rectify errors in entries for a fresh electors photo identity card (EPIC), get registration transferred to another constituency and also delete names from electoral rolls, if required.

For the purpose of registration, a citizen has to apply online at the recently revived national voters service portal ( www.nvsp.in). "The electoral registration officer (ERO) concerned will receive the details and get it verified through booth-level officers to process registration," Khiangte said.

An applicant will be intimated about the status of his/her application through text message or email, he further said, adding that a person can also check the status by logging in using an ID and password given at the time of application.

"In a nutshell, ERO-Net will simplify the work of electoral registration officers by connecting all EROs in the country," Khiangte said, stressing that they could now easily verify and process transferring of a voter from one constituency to another located anywhere in India. "This, in turn, will help streamline voter lists by deleting duplicate entries."

ERO-Net will ultimately help prepare a unified national photo electoral roll, incorporating all voters of the country.

"A person, however, has to approach one of the authorised pragya kendras (common service centres) if he/she wishes to download a new or corrected voter ID after it is processed," the chief electoral officer said when asked if ERO-Net would offer a download option.

Electoral registration officers and other stakeholders have already been trained for efficiently handling the online platform and contact centres have been established at national, state and district levels for helping voters, Khiangte informed.

In East Singhbhum, deputy election officer Gayatri Kumari announced the launch of ERO-Net at a news meet in Jamshedpur.

"The system will make it easy for people to get enrolled as voters or making necessary changes in name and address. But, the primary objective is to screen bona fide voters. There are several people who possess more than one voter ID, registered at different places. ERO-Net will end such duplicity," she said.

Gayatri said those possessing more than one ID could select a constituency they wanted to vote from. "The other IDs will become null and void," she said, adding that revision of electoral rolls would start from October 16 and the final list published on January 8, 2018.

In Dhanbad, deputy commissioner A. Dodde and deputy election officer B.B. Singh held a meeting with representatives of political parties and apprised them of ERO-Net, underscoring how it would make the voting process more transparent.