
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Kerala must aim for 100% voter turnout in the upcoming elections, Governor Rajendra Arlekar said at the state-level National Voters’ Day celebrations at Kanakakunnu Palace on Saturday.
“When citizens fully embrace their democratic rights, the need for NOTA (none of the above) votes diminishes,” he remarked, expressing confidence in the active participation of the people of Kerala. The governor also addressed concerns about the integrity of electronic voting machines (EVMs), reassuring the audience that the machines are secure and have not been manipulated to rig elections.
“There is no reason to distrust EVMs,” he said, after inaugurating the event.The function also marked the inauguration of a cloud-based file archiving system. Several awards were presented to honour contributions to voter participation.
Magician Gopinath Muthukad was recognised for his efforts. Bhuvanendran Kani, an ooru mooppan of the Kani tribe, and senior voter Vishwanathan were also honoured, along with programme partner Federal Bank and IAS officers Dr S Chithra, Krishna Theja and N S K Umesh. Inbasekar K received the accolade for the best district election officer.
Chief Secretary Sarada Muraleedharan delivered the keynote address, emphasising the importance of strengthening democratic values. State Election Commissioner A Shajahan and Chief Electoral Officer Rathan U Kelkar extended their best wishes for the success of the ongoing voter awareness initiatives.