A mere 37% of the State’s total electorate of 510,69,354 have so far participated in the Election Commission’s 45-day Electors’ Verification Programme (EVP) that began from September 1. Karnataka now stands in the 16th position in the country’s ranking on the EVP progress, with Goa topping the rank list.
The commission recently extended the last date for EVP from October 15 to November 18 during which voters can verify and authenticate their existing details on the electoral rolls and get their names included, deleted, or corrected.
Admitting that the progress has been poor, Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) for Karnataka, Sanjiv Kumar, told presspersons on Friday that Karnataka was in the 31st position two weeks ago. “The programme is picking up slowly. We are determined to ensure 100% verification and authentication by voters so that the electoral rolls are cleansed completely. It is for this reason that the verification programme has been extended,” he said.
While Goa’s progress is 95.3%, Mizoram and Rajasthan — having touched 72.45% and 72.05% respectively — are in the second and third position. EVP progress is less than 1% in Jharkhand, Kerala, Haryana, Maharastra, and Jammu and Kashmir.
Slow in BBMP areas
In Karnataka, the progress has been the lowest in BBMP areas along with Belagavi, Bagalkot, Dharwad, Ballari, Mysuru, and Kodagu. These districts have recorded less than 30% progress.
Attributing the poor show to the “inefficiency” of Booth Level Officers (BLOs), Mr. Sanjiv Kumar said he had already discussed the issue with BBMP Commissioner B.H. Anil Kumar.
“We will have another meeting soon. I have asked the Commissioner to direct the BLOs to work effectively for the success of the programme. While Bengaluru Urban, Bengaluru South, and Mysuru have recorded 26%, Bengaluru Central has recorded 22%,” he said.
‘App is working’
Dismissing the excuse by the BLOs that the mobile app of National Voters’ Service Portal (NVSP) is not working, the CEO said, “There is nothing wrong with the application. When staff in other districts have been using it effectively, how can the application not work here. This is just an excuse,” he said.
Mandya has recorded the highest percentage (81%) followed by Chitradurga (63%), Haveri (60%), Hassan (56%) and Udupi (54%). “The verification programme is aimed at improving the health of electoral rolls and delivery of electoral services. Verification and authentication of entries by citizens followed by field verification and verification of uncovered target by BLOs through house-to-house visits will help in removing all errors,” he explained.
Family authentication
Henceforth, authentication by one member of the family will do for verification of details of other family members too.
“This means it is not mandatory for each voter to be physically present when the BLOs come for verification. Any member present at home can show the documents of other family members too,” the CEO said.
Calling upon people to make use of the opportunity and verify their details, he said it is also important for political parties and booth-level agents to actively participate in the programme.
Modes of verification
People can also verify through the “Voter Helpline” mobile application, National Voters’ Service Portal, by visiting Common Service Centres (CSCs) in their vicinity, and by submitting hard copies of filled-in forms to the Electoral Registration Officer through their booth-level officers.
PwD (People with Disabilities) voters can call voter helpline 1950 seeking facilitation. People can visit Bapuji Kendras located in gram panchayat offices and Atal Janashree Kendras of the Revenue Department. They can verify their name, photo, date of birth, father’s name, and address. If every detail is correct, they can mark it as verified. If any detail needs correction, they can submit request in Form 8 along with a copy of identification documents approved by the Election Commission.
