Bengaluru, Oct 15 There is no need for the public to panic if their names are missing from the voter list, as the EC will conduct a special drive to include all eligible voters, Bengaluru Urban District Electoral Officer Maheshwar Rao said.
Speaking to the media at the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) Head Office regarding the SIR of the voter list, he said, as per the directions of the Election Commission of India, steps are being taken to conduct a special drive to facilitate the inclusion of eligible voter.
Eligible citizens can apply for fresh inclusion of their names by submitting Form 6, he added.
According to a statement shared by the GBA, Rao said that the draft voter list contains a total of 56,99,660 voters. Due to names not being traced in the 2002 voter list and other discrepancies, notices had to be issued to 24,06,044 individuals for hearings and most of these hearings have already been completed.
The EC has now directed Booth Level Officers (BLOs) to visit households directly and conduct verification instead of conducting hearings.
Necessary action is being taken accordingly, he said.
Rao said, in Bengaluru Urban District, 2.19 lakh people have submitted Form 6 applications for fresh inclusion of their names in the voter list. Following the disposal and verification of various applications, including Forms 7 and 8, approximately 2 lakh voters are expected to be added.
Consequently, the total number of voters in the city is expected to reach around 59 lakh, he stated.
In Bengaluru Urban District, a total of 5,549 applications have been received under Form 7, of which 2,468 applications have been approved so far. This accounts for 44 per cent of the total applications, he said.
The District Electoral Officer said that Booth Level Agents (BLAs) are permitted to submit a maximum of 10 applications under Form 7. If applications exceeding this limit are submitted, they will be scrutinised and appropriate action will be taken in accordance with the rules.
In this regard, 1,103 Form 7 applications have been rejected in Malleshwaram. Bulk applications submitted in other areas are also being examined, and action is being taken as per the rules, he stated.
For the convenience of the public, constituency-wise details of claims and objections received, along with information pertaining to the relevant forms, including Forms 9, 10, 11, 11A and 11B, have been published on the Election Commission’s website and the official website of the Greater Bengaluru Authority.
The draft voter list was published on August 24 and the final voter list will be published on October 27.
(PTI News)
