CEC flags missing names, asks BLOs to add women, young voters
LUCKNOW, Aug. 26 -- Chief election commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar here on Tuesday described booth level officers (BLOs) as the foundation of Indian democracy and urged them to ensure that all eligible women and young voters are included in electoral rolls.
Addressing over 500 BLOs and 30 BLO supervisors from across Uttar Pradesh, Kumar said BLOs are the Election Commission of India's (ECI) first interface with citizens and repositories of trust and transparency in the electoral process.
He said BLOs played an important role in preparing electoral rolls in Uttar Pradesh, where the special intensive revision (SIR) was completed in April.
The final electoral roll has 13.39 crore electors and was prepared by 1.77 lakh BLOs, with concurrent audits by more than 5.82 lakh booth level agents (BLA) appointed by recognised political parties.
Kumar directed BLOs to ensure that women who move after marriage have their names added to voter lists at their in-laws' polling booths. He also asked officials to ensure that all people who have turned 18 are added to the rolls.
He said BLOs should provide accurate voter data, while the ECI would use technology to remove duplicate entries. He urged voters to provide their Aadhaar card, latest photograph and mobile number while filling voter forms.
Kumar said people should be made aware that having names on voter lists at two places can attract a one-year jail term under the Representation of the People Act, 1950.
He also said 12 crore people had downloaded the ECI's ECINET app and 2.5 crore had downloaded X, adding that the ECI website provides election and candidate details, including affidavits, dating back to 1951.
The CEC urged election officials to work towards increasing voter turnout in upcoming elections and ensure that every eligible voter is reached....
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