Over the years, the turnout of the urban voters on the polling day during elections has reported a steady decline which has become a matter of concern for the election authorities.
The Election Commission of India has also made a strong appeal to the people to ensure that they take part in the democratic process actively and help elect the most preferred candidates in the electoral fray.
As there is a previous record of Nellore city voters turning up in small numbers, the district administration began a campaign to create awareness on the need for using the voting right without fail. In the 2009 elections, just around 50 per cent of voters exercised their right in the city.
District Collector N. Srikanth said that this time they were expecting a significant increase in voter turnout because of several initiatives taken up by the administration with special focus on the voter awareness. A signature campaign was launched in which district level officials and others took part.
These initiatives are taken up as part of the Systematic Voter Education and Electoral Participation (SVEEP) programme. Greater emphasis is given to sensitisation of the youth who have been enrolled in large numbers ahead of this general election.
Joint Collector G. Rekha Rani, trainee joint collector Imtiyaz Ahmed and scores of officials left their signatures on the poster.
Paintings portraying the need for people’s participation are also used in disseminating information to the public in this connection.
The district administration has also placed vigil on the distribution of voter slips also in the general elections, as there are widespread complaints on faulty slips being supplied to the voters.
The officials have instructed the booth level staff and supervisors to make sure that the voter slips are delivered to all the voters a few days ahead of the polling day. This is going to be taken up in Nellore city this time from April 10 itself.
