voter rolls

Bengaluru is known for its high levels of citizen activism, but low level of citizen participation in elections, the most important instrument of democracy. The trend continued this Lok Sabha election too. However, some apartment societies did a lot of work to buck this trend and improve the voter turnout. One such society was ours - Prestige Shantiniketan in Whitefield. With 3000 flats, 12,000 residents and more than 2000 registered voters, we are a powerhouse in terms of voter numbers, and we did everything to make sure we had a high voter turnout this election. To start with, we had…

The Chief Electoral Officer, Karnataka (CEO-KA), had published on his website the latest electoral rolls – the version that was effective for this Lok Sabha election. Though the mother roll for this election was published last October, an addition/deletion drive was undertaken afterwards. The rolls with these modifications were published twice - once on 16th January, and the final rolls on 26th March. But the final rolls appeared on the CEO-KA website on 10th April only, leaving little time to respond for those who went missing from the rolls. Additions CEO-KA had advertised widely inviting the citizens to register as…

Low voter turnout shames India's IT city Bangalore states NDTV and others nod in agreements. The authorities, politicians, noted citizens, all are aflame criticising the citizens for not participating in the elections. Newspaper have used highly derogatory phrases - especially Kannada newspapers - displaying cheap journalism and reporting wrong data. Real voter turnout percentage in Bengaluru has to be more than 70%. If it was to be larger than this with the shamefully poor electoral roll management, we should have grave concerns about illegal votes and rigging. Crude Numbers First In January 2018, District Electoral Officer, Bangalore, (Commissioner, BBMP) published…

Election Commission, through many special drives, has been focusing on getting more voters registered. Here are some observations based on the final voter roll numbers shared by the Election Commission. 20.7 Lakh voters have been added to the 28 constituencies of Bengaluru, 3.16 lakhs have been added in the two months March - May 2018! From an average of 2.5 lakhs voters in 2015, Bengaluru constituencies have an average voter roll size of 3.25 lakhs. The smallest constituency is Shivaji Nagar with 1.96 Lakh voters, the largest is Bengaluru South, three times that size, with 6.03 lakhs. Mahadevapura follows with…

Google search gives about 8,17,000 results for a ghar wapsi (home coming or re-conversion of religion). Member of Parliament Sakshi Maharaj says, ” [it] is no conversion but just a process to guide these people to the faith where they actually belong.” Budhism, Jainism, Sikhism, Islam and Christianity and many other religions all grew by converting believers of other religions. Conversions from these religions would then be ghar wapsi. However, adding fuel to fire, All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief and Hyderabad MP, Asaduddin Owaisi, told in a public speech that every person is born a Muslim and later converted to other faiths. Thus…

For LATEST FAQ on 2014 Elections, click here. To know the procedure for online voter registration, click here. The Election Commission has announced a special summary revision of photo electoral rolls. This will help enrol first time voters, voters whose names are not in the rolls, voters who have shifted residences and already enrolled voters who need to correct their details. All citizens who will be 18 years or above, as on January 1st 2013, are eligible. [This article, published in Dec 2012 has been updated 4 Apr 2013]  How to check your name on the voter roll How to…

After my husband got our constituency and ward details from our neighbour, he filled in the voter registration form online. The last instruction of the online process was to post a copy to the Election Office located at the BBMP Headquarters. He did not trust the BBMP to mail us back our acknowledgement so I was to take the forms to the BBMP office. Though I anticipated a long queue and quite a lot of running around, I agreed, if I had to convince people to vote I had to be on voter's list in the area of our new…

With the special summary revision of photo electoral rolls, on till December 4th, 2012, citizens can enroll in the voter list online too. To check your name on the voter roll or for information on how to register as a new voter, see bangalore.citizenmatters.in/vote2013Who can become a voter?Any person who is:a citizen of India18 years of age or above on the qualifying date (1/1/2012)ordinarily resident in Bangalore.This includes a student in a University, Institute etc.not disqualified to be voter e.g. not of unsound mind etc.I am not able to find my name in the voters listDue to the use of…

A PIL, questioning the deletion of lakhs of entries from the current voter rolls has come up for hearing at the Karnataka High Court. The court heard the case on November 6th.The PIL has been filed by Commander P G Bhat of Daksh, a Bangalore based organisation working towards accountability in politics and governance, Ashwin Mahesh of Loksatta party and Smart Vote, a campaign that encourages people to vote. The petitioners have named the Election Commission of India (ECI) and the Chief Electoral officer (CEO), Karnataka as their main respondents, along with four other Electoral officers from Bangalore zone. It…

June 2012 Of voter’s list, voting booths and preferential voting:  a guide to voting booths and how to find your name in the electoral rolls for the election on June 10th. Also a note on how the preferential system works. Sixteen candidates will battle it out in the Bangalore graduate constituency MLC election on June 10th. Campaigning in graduates MLC race intensifies, contrasts break through. Follow the progress of the Election campaignWho is running for office? Read the in-depth backgrounder on Ramachandra Gowda, Ramoji Gowda, A Deve Gowda, Ashwin Mahesh, Nagalaxmi Bai and K S Lakshmi. All about the MLC…