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December 3, 2007

H/l: 3 crore voters still without ID cards
Intro: Electoral office hopes to finish the process by January 2008
CORRESPONDENT

From: Vrushali Lad

Mumbai: In a state with exactly 6,90,66,242 eligible electors, as per the office of the Chief Electoral Office, it is a bit unfortunate that only three crore voters have got their ID cards for the Assembly elections in 2009.

“But this is an ongoing programme, and we hope that by January 1, 2008, all assembly constituencies would be covered,” said Debashish Chakrabarty, newly-appointed chief electoral officer, Maharashtra state.

Chakrabarty was speaking to media persons at Mantralaya yesterday, and announced that throughout December 2007, his office would be involved in the summary revision of electoral rolls. “This year, the process was a bit delayed but we are confident of finishing on the appointed date,” he assured.

There are 25,46,527 new electors in the state, with 3,54,557 deletions. “There has been a net addition of 21,91,970 electors,” Chakrabarty said, explaining that these additions have taken the number of electors in the state to over six crores. “182 constituencies have already received the photo Ids,” he said.

During this month, citizens are advised to get enrolled if their names are missing from the list, make objections or bring to notice any mistakes in ID cards issued or even apply for inclusion online (see box).

So far, the office has partly completed the draft publication of electoral rolls containing photographs of each elector. “So far, of the 288 assembly constituencies, we have finished this particular work in 108 constituencies. We will complete this part of the process by June 2008,” Chakrabarty said.

“I advise that wherever these draft rolls have already been published, electors must check if their photograph is correctly used,” he added. Of the 108, the process has been completed in three Pune districts - Indapur, Baramati and Junnar.

Box:
- December 4, 2007: Publication of draft roll
- December 4 to 19, 2007: Dates for receiving claims and objections at designated locations
- December 8 and 9, 2007: Special campaign dates
- January 31, 2008: Final publication of rolls
In case of any discrepancies, contact your Electoral Registration Officer or Designated officer. Online applications are accepted only in constituencies with municipal corporations.