Chennai: Averring that there has been tremendous response to the drive to update the voters rolls in the state, CEO Satyabrata Sahu said the process of updating the electoral rolls is still on and those who required information or need to verify their names could call on the toll-free no. 1950.
“After the draft mother roll was published in September last year, there has been tremendous response to the recent drive to update the voters’ rolls. So far, we have received nearly 10,14, 888 applications seeking inclusion of names or correction; and of these, the EC had received 2,01,279 forms through online besides 8,13,609 physical forms since the last one month,” Sahu said.
Speaking to reporters here on Thursday, the CEO said the election commission would accept the application forms till the last date of candidates filing their nominations. However, action would be taken only on the forms that have been received 10 days ahead of the date. “If the voters have doubts or clarifications they could dial the toll-free number: 1950. They can even verify if their names have been included in the electoral rolls…There is still time to apply for inclusion or corrections, if any. That’s why we are repeatedly urging the voters to register and enfranchise themselves. The voters could even check if their names have been uploaded with correct spellings and ascertain their polling booths,” he said.
Wherever the number of voters exceeded 1,400 at a polling booth, the EC had to shift the remaining voters to the nearby polling booth. There are totally 65,972 polling booths till 2018 and presently the number of approved polling booths has gone up to 67,664. “There is scope to add auxiliary polling booths as we have received over 10 lakh applications for inclusions,” the CEO informed.
There are totally 67,664 polling stations spread across Tamil Nadu including 26,133 polling stations in urban areas besides 41,531 in rural areas.
