BENGALURU: The Election Commission has decided to extend the last date for summary revision of electoral rolls to January 22. Previously, the Commission had set January 12 as the deadline.
Sanjay Kumar, Chief Electoral Officer of Karnataka, said the extension was given following a meeting of political parties and officials with a team of the Central Election Commission, which visited the state recently. The extension was allowed after both political parties and deputy commissioners from various districts requested for it, he added.
During the special drive that will last till January 22, door-to-door verification of claims will be done. “Polling station officers have been appointed. They will have to do door-to-door enrolment and process the documents submitted. Correction of voter IDs, removing names of people who have left the constituency, etc, will be completed,” he said. The final publication of electoral rolls will be on February 28, he informed.
“Even if people have voter IDs, they have to confirm their names on the roll. If they don’t have IDs, they will have to apply now. All DCs have been directed to create awareness about the issue as elections are close,” he said. Political parties should also play an active role in enrolling voters and subsequently increasing voter turnout, he said.
No clarity yet on number of phases
Sanjay Kumar said the Election Commission of India is yet to decide on whether polls will be held in one phase or two phases. “We have experience in conducting elections in a single phase and we can do it. Conducting it in a single phase will also prevent people from migrating from one place to cast their votes in another place,” he said.Political parties had earlier conveyed their preference to conduct the polls in a single phase to the Election Commission of India.