SHILLONG/NONGSTOIN/TURA: Chief Electoral Officer FR Kharkongor on Thursday said there is apathy among urban voters at times of Lok Sabha election in the state.
Speaking at a state-level function here for the final publication of electoral rolls with January 1, 2019, as the qualifying date, Kharkongor said, “There is always a good response of voters when it comes to the Assembly elections but the response to the Lok Sabha polls is lukewarm.”
The CEO informed that while voters’ turnout in state elections is usually impressive, that in the Lok Sabha polls hover around 68 per cent. He sought the cooperation of political parties to increase the number of electorate.
The silver lining is that women voter enrolment is high in the state and one of the best in the country, he said, adding that the gender ratio in Meghalaya is 1,021 females.
To encourage more people to vote, the Election Department will promote “queue-less voting” and for this, it is planning an innovative way to inform voters about the number of people at a polling booth.
The total number of voters in Meghalaya stands at 18,92,716 after the publication of the final roll and in the draft roll, the number was 18.46 lakh. The electoral roll will be continuously updated “to ensure that no prospective voter is left out”.
“The Elector Population, or EP, ratio in Meghalaya is 98.34 per cent and aggressive efforts will be made to reduce the gap of 1.6 per cent,” Kharkongor said.
Meghalaya will have 3,167 polling stations and trainings have also been imparted to officers to deal with persons with disability at polling stations.
The Voter Verification and Information Programme (VVIP), which will be launched on National Voters Day on January 25, will enable the electorate to verify and check their polling stations and other details through mobile phones.
Earlier, the CEO also released the electoral roll and handed them to representatives of different political parties. Also present during the occasion were East Khasi Hills Deputy Commissioner MW Nongbri, who delivered the welcome address, and additional CEO R P Marak.
Electoral rolls were also distributed in other districts like West Khasi Hills and those in Garo Hills.
In Nongstoin, District Election Officer T Lyngwa released the final list at DC office. The total number of voters in Nongstoin is 36,310, Rambrai-Jyrngam 33,442 and Mawshynrut 34,924. Lyngwa too called upon the representatives of parties to insist voters to exercise their franchise.
The supplementary electoral roll was handed over to the party representatives.
Many young voters have enrolled this time in West Garo Hills after the district administration ran campaigns in schools and colleges. A total of about 5,276 have been newly enrolled in the final electoral roll 2019, said Deputy Commissioner Ram Singh as he released the electoral roll.
In Ampati, the final photo electoral rolls for Ampati, Mahendraganj and Salmanpara were prepared in accordance with the Registration of Electors Rule, 1960.
The electoral rolls are available for inspection at the offices of the district election officer and BDOs as well as booth level officers in respective polling stations.
The EPICs will be handed over to all the newly registered voters during the celebration of National Voter’s Day in their respective polling stations.
There is an overall increase of 2,163 voters in the final photo electoral rolls in the district, out of which 1,855 are fresh enrolments in the age group of 18-19 years.
Electoral rolls were also distributed in Resubelpara, North Garo Hills.
