22 lakh voters names missing in Telangana electoral rolls list

In a span of just one year, the names of as many as 22 lakh voters were deleted from the electoral rolls in Telangana  between 2017 and 2018.As per information available with the election authorities here, the total electorate as per 2017 records was about 2.83 crore voters (1.44 crore men, 1.38 crore women and 2,351 of third gender). As per the second special summary revision of electoral rolls published on September 10 this year, the total electorate in the state is 2,61,36,776 covering 119 Assembly constituencies and 31 districts. Of them, 1,32,67,626 are men, 1,28,66,712 are women and 2,438 are of third gender.

As there are reports of demographically similar entries in the rolls, abnormally high ages, voters with multiple names reported by stakeholders or booth-level officers (BLOs), a thorough verification is being carried out to eliminate bogus voters from the rolls, state chief electoral officer Rajat Kumar said.Though there can be a large number of people with similar names in the rolls, one cannot conclude that they are bogus names. In case of similar names of voters, the election authority will check their surnames, age and addresses. If any discrepancies are found, their names would be deleted from the electoral rolls, he said  and entrusted all the district election officers (DEOs) with the task of identifying various types of mistakes and errors in the electoral rolls and removing their names from the list and preparing error-free electoral rolls, he said.

The modern electronic voting machines (EVMs) have started arriving to various districts, after completion of the  exercise, the CEO will take mass awareness campaign through mobile vans about EVMs consisting of Ballot Units and Control Units and Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPATs), a method of providing feedback to voters using a ballotless voting system.

Arrangements for conducting a mock polling exercise at polling stations would also be made to create awareness about voting through EVMs. As requested by the CEO, the state government has agreed to provide additional staff consisting of 60 personnel for the conduct of ensuing elections.

The second Special Summary Revision (SSR) of Photo Electoral Rolls with reference to January 1, 2018 as qualifying date has commenced in the state and will continue till September 25. The draft electoral rolls have been published and copies put up in the offices of EROs and AEROs for viewing by voters. The published draft rolls are available on the CEO’s website www.ceotelangana.nic.in.

New electors, who have completed 18 years as on January 1, 2018, can submit Form 6 for inclusion of their names. Indians living abroad can submit Form 6A for inclusion of their names. Form 7 has to be submitted for deletion of names. Electors can apply for correction in name by submitting Form-8.

ECI imparts training to all district collectors on IT related concerning polls

District collectors in Telangana on Monday participated in a training programme organised by the Election Commission of India. Telangana chief electoral officer (CEO) said that special teams had been deputed from New Delhi to impart training to collectors/district electoral officer (DEO). “They have been given a clear idea of how to perform their duties with transparency,” he said. The programme was personally monitored by GHMC commissioner M Dana Kishore. The ECI had made available around 10 software solutions for use by DEOs. One such application is ‘C Vigil’ through which general public and media persons can download data about elections such as model code. “We are using sophisticated and power tools this time. They will help us do things such as purify electoral rolls in a better way,” said Kumar.

Kumar further said that an awareness campaign had been conducted over the past three days where every booth-level officer in the State was asked to get used to assigned duties.