Nashik, Jan 25 (PTI) Maharashtra State Chief Electoral Officer S. Chockalingam said on Sunday that incidents of doubting the sanctity of the voter list have increased over the last one-and-a-half years, emphasising that the poll processes run on trust and the issues would be resolved.
Addressing the state-level Voters’ Day programme in Nashik, the top poll officer said there are plans to ensure that voters will receive an identity card within 15 days after their registration is approved.
He also added that Booth Level Officers (BLOs) will get new Identity cards soon.
“Earlier, 50 days were required to get a voter ID. Now, anyone across the nation will get a Voter ID card in 15 days after approval. This is being done on a proposal and efforts by Maharashtra. Election Commission of India (ECI) has given its approval for this proposal, and in a week’s time, the technical approval will be received,” Chockalingam added.
Stating that democracy and development are directly related, the CEO said democracy must be strong to achieve the goal of sustainable development.
“Therefore, every voter should vote for a strong democracy. In the United Kingdom (UK), anyone can vote even after 3-4 months of stay. Pencils are used to mark your vote on the ballot paper. Trust is the main thing involved in that process.
“Everything runs on trust. Our process also runs on trust. However, in the last one-and-a-half years, doubts have been raised over the voter list. Such incidents have increased. We have to evolve,” he added.
According to Chockalingam, inclusion was the motto in the electoral rolls earlier.
“Now, we have to see if any wrong person is not included. In Colombia, no separate electoral rolls are created. Only birth and death entries are sufficient. Birth and death entries are registered in the concerned registers. You don’t have to apply to omit or delete your name; you do not have the right to do so. Just give your location, and you have to say that your location has changed,” he said.
After a person’s birth and after completing 18 years of age, that person is eligible to vote automatically, and after death, that person’s name is omitted or deleted, he said.
“After completing 18 years, you are a voter; after your death, you are no longer a voter. You have to just inform them about the change of location. We have to consider it as our target. Till the 2029 elections, we promise ourselves that there will be no problems, doubts about the voter lists, and we all should work towards achieving it,” Chockalingam added.
He said reforms were made from time to time for a fair voting process.
“From that, the concepts of code of conduct, photo voter list, Electronic Voting Machine (EVM), election observer and vote counting process emerged,” he said.
The CEO further stated that the EVM is provided with a three-tier security system, including the CRPF or CISF, the State Reserve Police Force (SRPF), and the police.
Speaking about the voters’ rolls, he said care is being taken to ensure that names of non-eligible voters do not feature in the list.
“Work is underway to find voters with similar photographs. Work has started to solve the issue at the constituency level, and we will conduct it at the state level soon. We will find out entries featuring similar photos at the state level,” he said.
Efforts are being made to make the voter list error-free, and everyone’s cooperation is required for this, Chockalingam added.
“Out of the 147 crore population of India, 9.93 crore voters are in Maharashtra. There is a possibility of Special Intensive Revision (SRA) in Maharashtra soon”, Deputy Chief Electoral Officer Sunil Sonar said.
Earlier, an exhibition was inaugurated, and a cycle rally was also organised, marking the National Voters Day. PTI COR NSK
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