Voters in Kerala have warmly responded to an online service introduced by the Chief Electoral Officer for renewing the voter identity card with a colour photograph and updated personal information.
The number of voters who utilised the service within the last ten days is 6.41 lakh in Kerala, as per the latest records of the Election Commission.
Though Aadhaar seeding and information update are the priority for the Election Commission under the new drive, the offer to get a PVC voter identity card with colour photograph is seemingly the main attraction for the majority. Akshaya centres too are getting several clients to complete the procedure with their high-speed internet connectivity. The service will be available till April 15.
Even though the website ceo.kerala.gov.in provided for the online submission of information is often slow due to the increasing number of visitors, officials say people are making patient attempts to get work done.
“Also, there are applicants who quit midway without completing the procedures,” they say.
Majority of those who quit midway lacked awareness of Aadhaar number and the voter identity card number, they say. On keying in these numbers, the auto-fill option will work and they can easily move to the next step. Those who quit midway were trying to complete the procedures in consultation with the free helpline facility (1950).
Network issues
Buffering and other network issues had created problems, which have now been rectified by the technical wing. As photo uploading had proved to be a strenuous task for many with weak internet connectivity, arrangements has been made to skip this step.
In such cases, voters can submit their photograph to booth-level officers assigned to verify the information submitted online, the officials say.
