Camps to verify names in voters list March 9

The Election Commission has decided to hold special camps Sunday in polling stations across the country to facilitate people to verify their names on the electoral rolls, an official said here Friday.

"Special camps would be held for the first time simultaneously in all polling stations across the country March 9 to help the eligible voters to verify their names by themselves on the voters' list," chief electoral officer (CEO) of Tripura Ashutosh Jindal told media persons.

"In these special camps, the electoral roll of the concerned polling station would be displayed and also be read out publicly, so that people can check their names on the electoral rolls."

"If the name of any person entitled to be enrolled is left out for some reason or has been wrongly deleted or there is any mistake in their names or related information, such people can immediately fill application for taking appropriate steps by the authorities," Jindal said.

The booth level officer would coordinate the entire process.

Facility to check names on electoral rolls through mobile SMS has also been provided. The mobile number on which SMS is to be sent is different for each state and this is being publicised by chief election officers (CEOs) of each state.

The facility of checking names on the electoral list is also provided on the website of CEOs of each state.

However, according to the official, the law does not allow inclusion of names in the electoral lists after 3 p.m. on the last date of filing nominations by the candidates.

At present, there are 930,000 polling stations in the country as compared to 830,866 stations set up during the last Lok Sabha polls in 2009, registering an increase of 11.9 percent.

The number of voters also has increased by about 10 crore this year.