Rajasthan
Home Voting: Election staff unable to find 649 ‘home voters’ in Jaipur | Jaipur News
Jaipur: Returning officers of the Election Commission (EC) returned a perpexed lot after conducting “home voting” in several constituencies, where they could not manage to locate several voters upon visiting their homes.
According to figures available with TOI, till Monday evening, 649 home voters in Rajasthan remained untraced. Among them 108 are voters who are differently abled, while as many as 541 voters are over the age of 80.In the 19 constituencies of Jaipur district, 85 such voters remained untraceable.
“Voters who cannot come down to polling booths or voters who need to be escorted by someone to reach polling booths had been selected for home voting. Booth Level Officers (BLOs) were tasked with visiting the homes of each and every applicant and should have checked the presence of such voters physically before making the final selection. We are not sure how so many voters remained untraceable,” said the returning officer of a constituency.
Officials stated there had also been cases where they found homes of selected voters to be locked. A few cases came up where family members informed that the voters had been shifted to hospitals. There were even cases where neighbours informed that the entire family had gone to a relative’s place to attend a marriage ceremony or on the occasion of Diwali.
“We can assure that we had actually visited the homes of such voters several times earlier. Yet, we could not trace many of them,” said the polling officer of a constituency.
Chief electoral officer of Rajasthan, Praveen Gupta, stated that the figure of 649 was “marginal” and these voters would get another chance. So, the final figure may decrease further, he said.
“The positive side is that 98% of selected home voters had casted their votes because of this home voting arrangement. In any general election you won’t find such a high percentage of polling,” Gupta told TOI.
As per the total figure, till Monday, 60,977 voters cast their voters out of a total 62,528 such voters. In the 19 districts of Jaipur, ECI had selected 7,230 voters for home voting. Among them 7,050 voters cast their votes.
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According to figures available with TOI, till Monday evening, 649 home voters in Rajasthan remained untraced. Among them 108 are voters who are differently abled, while as many as 541 voters are over the age of 80.In the 19 constituencies of Jaipur district, 85 such voters remained untraceable.
“Voters who cannot come down to polling booths or voters who need to be escorted by someone to reach polling booths had been selected for home voting. Booth Level Officers (BLOs) were tasked with visiting the homes of each and every applicant and should have checked the presence of such voters physically before making the final selection. We are not sure how so many voters remained untraceable,” said the returning officer of a constituency.
Officials stated there had also been cases where they found homes of selected voters to be locked. A few cases came up where family members informed that the voters had been shifted to hospitals. There were even cases where neighbours informed that the entire family had gone to a relative’s place to attend a marriage ceremony or on the occasion of Diwali.
“We can assure that we had actually visited the homes of such voters several times earlier. Yet, we could not trace many of them,” said the polling officer of a constituency.
Chief electoral officer of Rajasthan, Praveen Gupta, stated that the figure of 649 was “marginal” and these voters would get another chance. So, the final figure may decrease further, he said.
“The positive side is that 98% of selected home voters had casted their votes because of this home voting arrangement. In any general election you won’t find such a high percentage of polling,” Gupta told TOI.
As per the total figure, till Monday, 60,977 voters cast their voters out of a total 62,528 such voters. In the 19 districts of Jaipur, ECI had selected 7,230 voters for home voting. Among them 7,050 voters cast their votes.
We also published the following articles recently
Disability rights ignored: Divyang voters struggle to reach polling booths in Raipur
Divyang voters in Raipur faced difficulties reaching their polling booths due to a lack of facilities. One voter mentioned that she was unable to walk but wanted to exercise her right to vote. She also stated that no one from the Election Commission had approached her about the vote-from-home facility. The polling booth in question also did not have a ramp facility, and the booth in-charge claimed to be unaware of such provisions. Home voting is available for individuals above 80 years, essential service workers, persons with disabilities, and those affected by Covid-19.
Divyang voters in Raipur faced difficulties reaching their polling booths due to a lack of facilities. One voter mentioned that she was unable to walk but wanted to exercise her right to vote. She also stated that no one from the Election Commission had approached her about the vote-from-home facility. The polling booth in question also did not have a ramp facility, and the booth in-charge claimed to be unaware of such provisions. Home voting is available for individuals above 80 years, essential service workers, persons with disabilities, and those affected by Covid-19.
74% voters get inked in Indore
Indore district in India recorded a voter turnout of 73.75% in the recent elections, surpassing the turnout of 71.45% in the 2018 assembly polls. The turnout started slowly in the urban areas but gradually increased throughout the day. Indore-III had the lowest turnout in the first two hours, while Depalpur had the highest at 13.51%. The election overall was peaceful, with only a few incidents reported. Other districts such as Dewas, Shajapur, Agar-Malwa, Burhanpur, Khandwa, Jhabua, Mandsaur, Neemuch, Ratlam, Ujjain, Barwani, and Khargone also reported high voter turnouts.
Indore district in India recorded a voter turnout of 73.75% in the recent elections, surpassing the turnout of 71.45% in the 2018 assembly polls. The turnout started slowly in the urban areas but gradually increased throughout the day. Indore-III had the lowest turnout in the first two hours, while Depalpur had the highest at 13.51%. The election overall was peaceful, with only a few incidents reported. Other districts such as Dewas, Shajapur, Agar-Malwa, Burhanpur, Khandwa, Jhabua, Mandsaur, Neemuch, Ratlam, Ujjain, Barwani, and Khargone also reported high voter turnouts.
TDP moves ECI over voter roll anomalies
The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) has filed a complaint with the Election Commission of India (ECI) alleging irregularities in voter lists in Andhra Pradesh. The party has requested the ECI to appoint a high-level taskforce to oversee the revision works, remove staff from village and ward secretariats, and appoint observers from other states. The TDP claims that fake votes in the name of deceased individuals and multiple entries with zero door numbers have been included in the voter lists. They also argue that a parallel system has been created in violation of constitutional amendments.
The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) has filed a complaint with the Election Commission of India (ECI) alleging irregularities in voter lists in Andhra Pradesh. The party has requested the ECI to appoint a high-level taskforce to oversee the revision works, remove staff from village and ward secretariats, and appoint observers from other states. The TDP claims that fake votes in the name of deceased individuals and multiple entries with zero door numbers have been included in the voter lists. They also argue that a parallel system has been created in violation of constitutional amendments.
