To make the electoral lists more accurate, the Election Commission
has asked all states and Union Territories to hold two-day special camps
to rectify errors, if any, and to include the names of eligible voters,
a top official said here on Thursday.
“In view of the impending
general elections to the Lok Sabha and in order to provide further
opportunity to all un-enrolled eligible persons to enroll in the
electoral rolls, two-day special camps would be arranged in all states
and Union Territories across the country,” Chief Electoral Officer (CEO)
Sriram Taranikanti told IANS.
He said: “Following the directive
of the Election Commission, the special camps would be held in all
polling stations of 26 states and Union Territories on February 23 and
24. The special camps would be conducted in the remaining states and
Union Territories on March 2, 3 and March 8, 9, respectively.”
The
CEO said that Booth Level Officers (BLOs) and the designated officers
would be present in the special camps under the respective polling
station areas along with the electoral rolls.
“The electoral rolls
shall also be read out publicly during the camps to facilitate
uneducated voters. These camps are intended to facilitate the voters to
verify their names in the electoral rolls and to correct their names and
other details, if required, so that they could also exercise their
franchise in the Lok Sabha elections,” Taranikanti said.
The poll
panel also requested all the recognised political parties to appoint
Booth Level Assistants (BLAs) and advise them to remain present in the
special camps.
He said that following the directions of the
Election Commission, all political parties have also been requested not
to use plastic and materials that cause environmental degradation.
An
Election Commission official, now visiting the northeastern states,
said that except three to four states including Mizoram and Assam, the
photo-affixed electoral rolls with January 1, 2019 as the qualifying
date of age, have already been published in most of the states and Union
Territories.
Mizoram Chief Electoral Officer Ashish Kundra said
in Aizawl that the final electoral rolls of Mizoram would be published
on Friday.
