It was literally a wake-up call from the Election Commission asking voters to check their names on the electoral roll on Sunday.
The first message landed on the mobile phones of BSNL subscribers around 3.30 a.m.
It said voters whose names were found missing in the electoral roll could enrol on the spot (polling station).
Three hours later, the Chennai Corporation, on behalf of the District Election Officer, sent another message asking voters to visit their respective polling stations between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. along with Elector’s Photo Identity Card (EPIC) to check their names.
Special enrolment camps were held at 60,418 polling stations across Tamil Nadu on Sunday to enable voters to check whether their names were included in the voters’ list. With details of the camp widely publicised in the media, a large number of voters were seen thronging polling stations and many submitted fresh applications for inclusion in the rolls.
“We were surprised at the overwhelming response. We ran short of enrolment forms in many polling stations and had to take photocopies,” Tamil Nadu Chief Electoral Officer Praveen Kumar told The Hindu .
Explaining the necessity of the special camps, the EC said in a statement that it had received complaints that some persons having EPIC were in the past denied the right to vote because their name was not found in the electoral rolls.
The commission clarified that only those persons who were enrolled in a particular polling station would be allowed to vote there. “The EPIC is only an identity document and does not confer the right of vote on any person, whose name is not in the electoral roll.”
