Poll officials told to ensure error-free voter lists

TDP leader alleges ‘deliberate addition’ of names to electoral rolls

Collector M. Hari Narayanan speaking at a training programme organised for Returning Officers in Nellore on Thursday. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

The authorities supervising the election process have instructed the field staff to take all care to prevent any error in the voter’s lists.

The opposition parties unearthing glitches in the voter’s list even after the release of the final draft has triggered discussions and a blame game among the booth-level staff.

For example, in Tirupati, TDP leader and former MLA M. Sugunamma has pointed to the records showing the presence of 32 voters in a single-bedroom house in Korlagunta, where only two persons are living. She said 33 voters had been registered from a building in Jeevakona falling under the 200^th booth in the city’s 46^th division. Interestingly, the house with a single door number has only two portions.

Addressing the media, she also named the house owner, a local YSRCP leader.

“With only five voters in their house, the family has agreed to submit Form 7 to delete the remaining 28 votes, but not before we raised the issue,” Ms. Sugunamma said, demanding that the Election Commission of India (ECI) link the voters’ list with the Aadhaar numbers.

There are several glitches such as jumbled votes, double entries and shifted voters still shown in the lists. “The officials responsible for making the fake entries in Tirupati by-election have been suspended. But why no action was initiated against the ruling party leaders responsible for such violations?” she asked.

Keep voters’ list clean: Collector

Meanwhile, Nellore Collector M. Hari Narayanan participated in the two-day training programme for Returning Officers and the constituency-level master trainers on Thursday. He emphasised that the voters’ list must be clean and free of errors. “This is the most important duty of the polling officials,” he said.

He told the duty staff to stay abreast of the situation, right from the conduct of mock polls till the sealing of Electronic Voting Machines (EVM), referring to the phenomenal changes that have occurred in the election process.

Nellore Urban Development Authority (NUDA) Vice-Chairman Bapi Reddy, who is also the Nodal Officer (election training), made a presentation on vital steps such as ensuring proper functioning of EVMs, VV-Pats, ballot units, distribution of polling material to the staff and finally, their submission at the reception centre.