A Public Interest Litigation (PIL) petition was filed in the Hyderabad High Court on Monday, seeking direction to the Telangana Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) not to advance finalisation of photo electoral rolls. A lawyer from Karimnagar district, Komireddy Vijay Azad, filed the petition.
Citing a memo recently issued by the CEO, he said the cut-off date for registering as voters was changed from January 1, 2019, to January 1, 2018. Those who attain the age of 18 years by January 1, 2019, could have secured voting right.
They could have exercised their franchise in 2019 if the elections were held on completion of full term of Telangana Assembly.
With the dissolution of the Assembly nine months ahead, the exercise had begun to conduct polls. With the change of cut-off date, youngsters who attain eligibility age to register as voters after January 1, 2018, to January 1, 2019 stand to lose their right, the petitioner contended. If the cut-off date was retained as January 1, 2019 many first time voters could exercise their franchise in the ensuing early polls.
The original special summary review of voters list had provisions for raising objections over preparation of new electoral rolls and an opportunity to get them rectified, the petitioner said. However, the CEO’s memo negated this opportunity. The matter is likely to come up for hearing on Tuesday.
