A new ‘Absent - Shifted - Dead’ list to be drawn up

This is part of verification of electoral rolls in the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections

February 16, 2019 11:08 pm | Updated 11:08 pm IST

Voters will be subjected to verification in the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections as Booth Level Officers (BLOs) start touring their booths shortly.

The BLOs will enquire and mark voters in three categories: Absent (A) - for those who do not stay in the area for the most part of the year, Shifted (S) - for those who have shifted out of the address on the electoral list, and Dead (D).

“This marking is for internal reference and polling officials at all polling stations will be equipped with ASD voter list. If anyone on this list turns up, they will be subjected to careful scrutiny, but will be allowed to vote on presenting a photo identity card,” said BBMP Commissioner N. Manjunath Prasad, also the District Election Officer (DEO) for three Lok Sabha constituencies in the city – North, South and Central.

BBMP is producing videos to educate voters that giving your EPIC card or collecting anyone else's is a cognizable offence and would invite severe punishment. These videos will be played in movie theatres, on television and social media, he said. This follows the discovery of thousands of EPIC cards in R.R. Nagar during the May 2018 Assembly polls leading to the postponement of election in the constituency, he said.

The BBMP has formed 8,514 polling stations in the three Lok Sabha constituencies for which a total of 51,000 polling officials have been deployed, he said. BBMP published the final electoral roll on January 16, which had 71.01 lakh voters in the three constituencies.

However, voters can enrol or make changes in the electoral rolls till 10 days prior to filing of nominations for the elections, Mr. Prasad said.

A total of 1.28 lakh voters had applied to enrol or make changes since the electoral list was published, he said. Of them 71,192 new voters have applied to enrol their names, he said.

Interested persons can approach Voter Facilitation Centres – 105 Bangalore One Centres, 28 Executive Revenue Officer (ERO) offices and 64 Assistant Executive Revenue Officer (AERO) offices – to get the relevant forms to apply or even apply online. BBMP, the commissioner said, will put up collection boxes in colleges to target first-time voters to enrol.

A District Contact Centre would be set up at the BBMP office to help voters once the notification for the election is issued. The centre will work in two shifts to assist citizens on electoral roll issues and to register complaints. Voters in the city can contact the Centre, which is a nationwide initiative, through a toll free number 1950.

Mr. Prasad said that the required number of EVMs – 8,514 – and an additional reserve of 20% have already arrived, and the first level of checking was completed in the presence of representatives of political parties.

All transfers by February 20

The Election Commission of India (ECI) has written to chief secretaries of all States and Union territories to complete transfers / postings of all officers as may be required by the State government on or before February 20. The chief secretary has to submit a compliance report by February 25.

Chief Secretary T.M. Vijay Bhaskar said that all election related vacant posts would be filled, officers in the same post for over three years would be transferred and election related officials who are posted in their home districts would be transferred in the next three days.

The ECI had earlier set the deadline for transfers as February 28. The advancement of the deadline sparked speculation that elections would be announced in the first week of March.

Two apps to help voters

Two apps – Chunavana and Cvigil – will help voters navigate the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. Chunavana app will help citizens check their names in the electoral list, know the location of their polling station, list of officers involved and details of previous elections as well. The app helps voters search by their name or electoral ID number.

Another app Cvigil is a platform through which citizens can lodge complaints of violation of the Model Code of Conduct, like defacement or distribution of money. Citizens can send complaints, videos, photos and location of the violation.

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