Many names go missing from electoral rolls

09-04-14

Staff Reporter
As the voters started searching for their polling booth a couple of days ahead of polling scheduled on Thursday, some were happy to find their names but some were not. Once again, the same old story appears to have been repeated with many voters not finding their names in the electoral rolls.
Several persons approached the Collector office, Election Branch, and made calls to newspaper offices on Tuesday and Wednesday to complain that their names were missing from electoral rolls. The complaints of varied nature. Some complained that their name was in electoral rolls in previous election, but could not be found now. Some others complained that their names could not be found on website https://ceo.maharashtra.gov.in though those were in hard copy of electoral rolls. Some younger voters who enrolled for the first time in special camp conducted on March 9, expressed disappointment over their names not appearing in the electoral rolls.
In many cases, persons who had enrolled online and in person at polling stations, got issued two Elector’s Photo Identity Card (EPIC) some years ago. However, despite applying for deletion of one entry, their names were not deleted. In fact, the administration had announced that one of the two entries of the same person was deleted to make electoral rolls better. In some cases, it so happened that name of family head is at one polling booth while that of another member of the same family is in another booth.
When younger voters tried to search their names in electoral rolls uploaded on the website https://ceo.maharashtra.gov.in or on Nagpur Collector’s website www.nagpur.nic.in, some of them failed to find entries of their names. According to officials in the district administration, this thing happened with some of them also. This happened mainly on account of wrong spelling of a person’s name entered in electoral rolls. For instance, name of a lady was ‘Anita’ but her entry in electoral rolls uploaded online is spelt as ‘Ankita’. Thus, despite her name being in electoral rolls, it was not found when the lady entered her correct name ‘Anita’.

Voters’ Helpline Number
not working properly
The Voters’ Helpline Number launched by the district administration was not working properly, it came to fore. Despite repeatedly dialling the toll-free number 18002339000, no dial-tone could be heard throughout Wednesday.

BJP launches
helpline numbers
Apart from the administration, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) also launched its own helpline numbers for voters. According to a press release issued by BJP, the numbers have been launched at BJP’s public relations office in Ganeshpeth. Voters may dial any of the six numbers to know their part number, serial number, polling booth as per electoral rolls. These numbers include 0712-2767728, 0712-2760662, 7768892121, 7769982121, 9096526747, 9503320637.

Paid holiday today
District Election Officer has appealed to the employers to declare ‘paid holiday’ to employees on the polling date so that they can exercise their franchise. On April 10, polling will be held for Nagpur and Ramtek Lok Sabha constituencies. District Election Officer Abhishek Krishna stated in a release that the holiday should be a paid one on the said date. The employers not adhering to the directives of the Election Commission of India (ECI) to this effect, will face action under relevant provisions of Representation of Peoples Act, 1951. He has appealed to various establishments, shops, lodges, eateries, theatres, business establishmets, public sector enterprises, Information Technology companies, shopping centres, malls, retailers, or any other establishments to declare paid holiday.

Carry these i-cards
if you do not have
voters’ i-card
If your name is in electoral rolls but you do not have Elector’s Photo Identity Card (EPIC), you may still be able to exercise your franchise by showing 11 other photo identity cards. These 11 i-cards include passport, driving license; service identity card with photograph issued to employees by State/Central Government, public sector undertakings/public limited companies; pass-book with photograph issued by bank/post office; PAN card; Aadhaar Card; Smart Card issued by Registrar General of India under National Population Register; Job Card issued under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme; Health Insurance Smart Card issued under the scheme of Ministry of Labour; Pension document with photograph; authenticated photo voter slip issued by the election machinery. The persons having their entry in electoral rolls but not having EPIC should keep any of the above-mentioned identity cards with them to cast their vote, informs a press release issued by District Election Officer Abhishek Krishna.