VIJAYAWADA: NTR District Collector G Lakshmisha on Tuesday said voter registration is a constitutional duty, not just an administrative task, while addressing the closing session of an international workshop on ‘Voter Eligibility’.
The workshop was jointly organised by the India International Institute of Democracy and Election Management, Election Commission of India, International IDEA and AP CEO. Representatives from ECI, IIIEDEM, various states and UTs, academicians, institutions and students attended both in-person and virtually.
State Election Commissioner (SEC) Anil Chandra Puneetha said democracy and electoral systems depend on active, responsible public participation. He noted that polling percentages have improved significantly due to ECI’s awareness drives, citing West Bengal’s 92% turnout.
He stressed the need to study global best practices so people don’t have to leave work to vote in their hometowns.
Former SEC N Ramesh Kumar said AP should lead not just in literacy but also in polling percentage. He described voting as a constitutional duty and lauded Collectors for training BLOs for the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls.
AP CEO Vivek Yadav said AP is conducting a 9-step field study on voter eligibility to develop model standards for national and international use.
The goal of SIR is to remove ineligible names and include all eligible 18+ citizens for an error-free list. Technical sessions on global standards, data models and comparative legal traditions were also held during the workshop.