A few months back the
general elections were held and as usual there was a scurry of activity amongst
all political parties to ensure that all eligible voters had their names in
voting lists. I have been a regular voter at all elections held till then.
However under a voter eligibility exercise undertaken by the Election
Commission (EC), a whole lot of citizens found themselves with missing rights.
Apparently whoever did not answer the Election Commission's knock on the door
were delisted. In a city like Mumbai where almost everyone is out at work
during the day, there would be few retaining their rights in this manner.
Damage done, the EC
swung into immediate action. One could visit the EC website or the local
office, check whether your name has been deleted and then fill a certain form
for enrollment. You have to submit some proof of identity and address along
with photo. Nothing complicated. You could do it for yourself and all your
family members as well.
The EC website for
Maharashtra was extremely helpful, informative as to the purpose, and easy to
navigate (https://ceo.maharashtra.gov.in/). To my advantage the Karyakarta of the local political party
provided me with the polling district number and the correct district name. I
entered the details and lo behold, the details of my name deletion were before
me. I quickly downloaded the enrollment form, and also took a print of the
proof of name deletion.
The enrollment form was
not at all complicated. Only basic details like name, address, and date of
birth. Details of other family members who are registered voters at the same
address which I guess was for a quick search and a ready reference. If you held
a voting card, mention those details as well. Form filled, photocopies of
proofs made and self attested, I headed to the local EC office at 11 am by
which time I was sure the staff would be in their seats.
The local office of the
EC was in a municipal school occupying the entire assembly hall on the ground
floor. The staff seemed to have been sourced from various state government
departments. On enquiring I was directed to a window that opened onto the back
of the school. There were just 5 persons standing in front of me. Should not
take long I thought. Well not the right thought I must say. The first person
took 20 minutes which kind of set the tone for a long wait. The question to me
was why was it taking so long if it was just about form submission. The problem
was not about the process or staff attitude. It was the applicant who either
did not have all the information requested for or was trying to establish some
right for his residence or simply could not comprehend what was asked for in
the application form despite its simplicity. Most of the time I realized was
being spent in locating the listing of the applicant in the original list
wherefrom it had been deleted. The applicants were either giving a wrong plot
number or road or quoting the wrong name of their building or at times their
nick names, suffixes and prefixes (a whole lot of balu, bandya, gotya, appa, anna, nana, tai, ben, etc). I have to
admit that the person manning the window was showing huge patience in handling
such crowds. Add to that each of the applicant was carrying application forms
for almost all their family members.
When my turn came after
about 75 minutes, I simply handed over my form and the copy of my original listing
that had been deleted. The man at the window could not have been happier. All
he had to do now was pull out the book with the number that corresponded with
the number on the print I had handed him, go to the page number that was also
mentioned, and confirm my name and address. This took less than a minute. Next he stamped
my form, entered all corresponding numbers to my name in a separate book,
stamped my acknowledgement and handed it back to me. Then he proceeded to thank
me thrice and how I had helped him. Total time taken about 3 minutes.
I thanked the staffer
and walked away feeling pleased at having done my duty. A month later I
received a letter from the EC informing me that my name had been deleted from
the voting list and that I should fill in the attached forms and submit them at
the nearest EC office. Arrgghh. What happened to all my efforts. I chose to do
nothing immediately and thought of visiting the EC office when the next
elections were announced.
Yesterday I got a
message from the friendly neighbourhood karyakarta
informing me that the voters lists had been updated. If my name was still
missing I have an opportunity to update it in the next three days.
I went back to the EC
website (https://ceo.maharashtra.gov.in/) and entered my name in the prescribed
form in the search field for updated lists. My name appeared with my correct age and address. I even had the option
of downloading the entire voters list for my district in PDF form and confirm
my details.
The system works as
long as you co-operate with it.
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