GUWAHATI: Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar on Wednesday said the motive behind conducting the Special Revision (SR) of electoral rolls in poll-bound Assam was to include eligible and exclude ineligible voters.
Addressing a press conference in Guwahati, he said while 12 states had Special Intensive Revision, the Commission conducted SR in Assam, keeping in mind that the National Register of Citizens or NRC exercise is in the final stage.
On the allegation of opposition parties about the manipulation of the voters’ list, Kumar said if the name of any eligible voter did not make it to the list, the person has two options to get it included.
“One is that the person can fill out Form-6. But if the person is found ineligible even after doing so, he or she can file an appeal before the District Magistrate. I am happy to tell you that only 500 appeals have been received across districts so far. This means our BLOs, AEROs and EROs did a good job,” the CEC said.
On new initiatives, he said there would be 100 per cent webcasting in Assam for the first time.
The total number of voters per polling station would be a maximum of 1,200 for ease of voting.
“Voters will be allowed to carry their mobile phones to the door of the polling station. They will keep their phones there and vote. This was a long-standing demand, and the Commission decided to offer this facility,” Kumar said.
Assured minimum facilities in polling stations would include drinking water, toilets, signage, ramp/wheelchair.
The month-long Rongali Bihu is celebrated from mid-April, and Kumar said the Commission would decide on the election schedule keeping in mind this festival.
He further stated that the Commission would decide on the poll phases after deliberating several factors.
“But I assure you that the decision will be for the convenience of people,” he said.
The Commission instructed all election-related officials during the review of poll preparedness to enforce the rule of law strictly without fear or favour, and to make polling stations festive and welcoming for a pleasant voting experience.
Assam has altogether 2,49,58,139 voters – 1,24,82,213 males, 1,24,75,583 females and 343 third gender voters altogether. Of the total voters, 2,03,709 are PwDs and 2,586 are centenarians.
The state has 31,486 polling stations – 27,711 of them in rural areas and 3,775 in urban areas.