Bengaluru: With the voter turnout proving abysmally low in Bengaluru in previous elections, the Chief Election Commission and the BBMP have held a number of programmes to increase awareness and persuade more people to come out and vote on Thursday.
Several NGOs, Resident Welfare Associations (RWAs), radio stations and other organisations have called on the urban voters to come out in large numbers and pick a better leader for their tomorrow.
The Election Commission has also made it easier for the voters to download the details of their polling station. All they have to do is log on to its official website, www.ceokarnataka.kar.nic.in and enter details of their Electoral Photo Identity Card (EPIC), or their name, or father or husband’s name, parliamentary and assembly constituency and contact number. Once this is done, information about the polling station will pop up, making them less dependent on the electoral rolls in the possession of political parties, which may not be entirely updated.
Sakhi booths
The Election Commission has set up at least 400 Sakhi booths staffed entirely by women in Bengaluru North, Bengaluru Central and Bengaluru South parliamentary constituencies.
Ola to ferry physically challenged voters for free:
Meanwhile, to increase voter participation in the Lok Sabha poll, Ola has partnered with the office of the Chief Electoral Officer of Karnataka, Mangaluru Zilla Panchayat, Bengaluru District Electoral officer, BBMP commissioner and Commissioner of Mysore Corporation to provide free rides to persons with disabilities (PWD).
It has assigned 270 cabs to ferry PWD voters to the polling booths free of cost across Bengaluru, Mysuru, and Mangaluru on Thursday and Ballari, Hubballi-Dharwad, Kalaburagi and Belagavi on April 23.
Said Joint Chief Electoral Officer of Karnataka, Surya Send, “We are committed to increasing the participation of persons with disabilities in the Lok Sabha elections this year and are grateful to Ola for their help.”
Ola has set up helpline numbers, 9071464553 / 7624915133 to assist the PWD voters and address any issues that may arise. It has also arranged with nodal officers and a team of volunteers to make calls to driver partners to verify the status of the scheduled pick-ups of PWD voters on Thursday in Bengaluru, Mysuru and Mangaluru.
