Pune, Nov 7 (PTI) The Election Commission of India (ECI) will launch the special summary revision of the voters’ list in Pune city on Wednesday, Maharashtra Chief Electoral Officer said on Monday.
The nationwide launch will take place in the presence of Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar and Election Commissioner Anup Chandra Pandey, said state Chief Electoral Officer Shrikant Deshpande.
“The objective of the launch is to increase the participation of urban voters and youth in the electoral process as the program is important in view of the upcoming elections,” he told a press conference.
Speaking about why Pune has been chosen for the nationwide launch, Deshpande spoke about overall apathy among the people towards the electoral process in the city and urban areas.
“The expectations of participation in the electoral process are somewhat less in urban areas which we call urban apathy and youth apathy. As far as Maharashtra’s electoral roll is concerned, the proportion of youth to its population is not reflected in the electoral rolls,” he said.
Deshpande rued lethargy among the people as far as registration of voters, casting of votes, and getting themselves inducted into the electoral roll is concerned.
“To address this issue of lethargy among the populace, the election commission is constantly emphasizing, and to underline the same, the urban part of Pune has been chosen as there is urban as well as youth apathy and the voting percentage was also low in Pune’s urban areas compared to the rural areas,” the CEO added.
In the 2019 general elections, the overall voting percentage for the Pune Lok Sabha constituency was 49.84 per cent.
He said a bicycle rally will be held in the presence of the CEC and the Election Commissioner at Balewadi on November 9 morning to create awareness about voter registration and they will interact with citizens.
New voter registration will be done at the Savitribai Phule Pune University on November 9 at 11 am through a voter registration campaign, besides, an exhibition has been organised.
“As the Election Commission also gives importance to the deprived sections of society to include them in the election process, election commissioners will interact with the transgender community,” Deshpande said, adding that interaction will also be held with students at Symbiosis University on November 10.
According to the amendments made by the Election Commission of India in the Voter Registration Rules, 1960, the qualifying dates are January 1, April 1, July 1 and October 1. After the proforma list is published, applicants eligible for registration on the qualifying date January 1, and candidates eligible for registration on the following qualifying dates April 1, July 1, and October 1 can submit advance applications.
Based on the eligibility date of January 1, the application of the eligible voters will be processed as per the schedule mentioned above and the electoral roll will be updated along with the final publication. PTI SPK NSK NSK
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