Political parties urged to help ensure accuracy in voter list

Visakhapatnam: KS Jawahar Reddy, Panchayat Raj secretary and observer of district voter list, has asked the representatives of all political parties to cooperate with the district administration in preparing an accurate voter list without giving room for any criticism.

At a meeting held at the Collectorate here on Sunday with representatives of all political parties and Electoral Registration Officers (EROs), Mr Reddy discussed important points regarding the changes to the voter list in view of the ensuing municipal elections. He asked political leaders and the officials to ensure that all eligible persons were included in the voter list, besides taking up awareness programmes on the changes to be made in the list.

Stating that all those who complete 18 years by January 1, 2015, are eligible to become voters, he directed the officials to focus on this point so as to register more number of people. “There should not be any duplication of names. Since the voter list is to be finalised on January 16, 2015, all changes should be made within the period,” he said.

Responding to the appeals made by various parties to link Aadhaar Cards to the voter list to avoid duplication of names, he said it was already brought to the notice of the Election Commission of India.

Collector and District Election Officer N Yuvaraj said that as per schedule, the receipt of claims and objections began on November 13 and last till December 15. By organising special campaigns with the coordination of booth-level agents, claims and objections were also being invited and after a careful scrutiny of the corrections, omissions and additions before December 28, changes would be made, he said. “We have already introduced the Aadhaar Card linkage with the Voter ID Card.