Pune: The district election office has received 5.79 lakh applications for new voter registration ahead of the final publication of the summary electoral voter revision drive on August 31. The intensive drive was conducted to register a maximum number of voters ahead of the assembly elections likely to be held in October-November.
The district had registered 84 lakh voters in the recently concluded Lok Sabha polls and the newly added voters would be included in the electoral roll , deputy election officer Minal Kalaskar told TOI. The special summary voter registration drive ended on August 20. As many as 9.
29 lakh applications — for new voter registration, deletion, and changes of address — were received. The final draft roll would be published on August 31. Many voters had complained about their names missing from the voter list and not being able to find their polling booths during the Lok Sabha polls.
These voters were urged to re-register and check their names ahead of the assembly polls. "Complaints from voters who could not find their names during the Lok Sabha polls were addressed by asking them to re-register so that they can vote in the upcoming polls," said an election official. The electoral roll revision programme enabled eligible new voters to register themselves, while existing voters got an opportunity to make changes, corrections, and update their details on the electoral roll till August 20.
"The voter registration will be on till ten days before the last date for nomination after the elections are announced," added officials. Voters have also been told to link their mobile numbers with their names in the voter list. "The challenge before us is to remove duplicate entries from the electoral roll.
The figures on the roll are inflated because of duplicate entries of voters who have shifted to other constituencies or have died," said an election official. Duplicate entries of voters and voters with similarities in photos are being identified with the help of a software and being weeded out. Many voters alleged that over 10,000-15,000 names were found missing from the electoral list during the Lok Sabha polls in the district.
Activist Rohan Desai from the National Society of Clean Cities has been reaching out to citizens and urging them to re-register in case their names are missing from the list to ensure that they do not face any problem during the upcoming assembly polls. APPLICATIONS RECEIVED In Pune district Form 6 (new voter registration): 5,79,409 Form 7 (for deletion of names): 87,866 Form 8 (for change of address): 2,61,887 Total forms: 9,29,162.
