SHILLONG:Meghalaya Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), FR Kharkongor has lamented that there is a lukewarm response to Lok Sabha elections in urban areas of the state and urban apathy may be one of the factors for it.
Speaking at the state level function for the final publication of electoral rolls with reference to January 1, 2019 as qualifying date here on Thursday, Kharkongor said that there was always a good response of voters when it came to Assembly election but the response was lukewarm in Lok Sabha polls.
Seeking the cooperation of the Political parties to increase the voters turnout in Lok Sabha polls, he said that turnout during Assembly is usually very high while the voters turnout in Lok Sabha election usually hovered around 68 percent.
Stating that the people do not want to wait in queue while casting their votes, he said that the Election department will promote queue less voting and they would come out with innovative ideas to inform the voters about the number of people in queue in advance.
Earlier, he informed that the total voters in Meghalaya stands at 18, 92, 716 after the publication of final roll and in the draft roll, the number of voters were 18.46 lakh
He, however, added that upgradation of the Electoral Roll would continue to ensure that no prospective voter is left out. He also said that female enrollment and participation is also very high in the State
He also informed that the gender ratio in Meghalaya is 1021 females and female enrollment in the state was one of the best in the country
According to Kharkongor, the Elector Population (EP) ratio in Meghalaya is 98.34 percent and aggressive efforts would be made to reduce the gap of 1.6 percent
It was also informed that Meghalaya would have 3167 polling stations and trainings had been imparted to officers to deal with persons with disability in the polling station
It may be mentioned that the Voter Verification & Information Programme (VVIP) 1950 that would be launched on National Voters Day that would enable the electorates to verify and check their names in polling stations and other details through mobile phones.
Earlier, the CEO also released the Electoral Rolls and handed them to representatives of different political parties. Also present during the occasion were Deputy Commissioner, East Khasi Hills, Shillong, M W Nongbri who delivered the welcome Address and Additional CEO, R P Marak.
