Narayana Salyan is one of the 35 disappointed voters from Kallige whose name did not appear on the voter list.
The reason, non-listing of their names. The voters claim they had submitted applications to list their names and blame the officials of negligence.
A micro-observer appointed by the Election Commission informed that there were minor errors in the voters’ lists. A few eligible voters were not in the list whereas dead and migrated voters were listed.
According to official sources, 10 per cent of the total voters in 1,766 booths in the district were deprived of their right to vote as their names were missing. Salyan said the district administration holds campaigns to involve all voters in the electoral process but it is only a pretence. “Since a vote is powerful in a democracy, there should be justice for all those who missed voting,” he said.
Another group of people who feel deprived are the taxi drivers who were on election duty. Umesh, a jeep driver who was engaged in election duty in a remote village, said that he has been unable to vote for the past 10 years. During every election his jeep is deployed in places other than his constituency. “I believe voting is every citizen’s right, but the government wants us to forget that,” he said.
BJP district president Pratapsimha Nayak said that Dakshina Kannada Lok Sabha constituency would have recorded 80 per cent or more voter turnout if all the eligible voters were listed. Deputy Commissioner A B Ibrahim said problems in voting were observed throughout the state and officials need to be more careful in the next election.