Date:31/05/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/05/31/stories/2008053153990700.htm

Andhra Pradesh

Lok Satta’s plea to EC

Special Correspondent

HYDERABAD: The Lok Satta, Civil Society Organisation, has urged the Election Commission to take up Khairatabad constituency as a test case for its dismally low percentage of polling due to missing names and take up survey to find out the magnitude of the problem.

Lok Satta State campaign co-ordinator M. Padmanabha Reddy in a release said that while overall polling percentage was about 40 per cent in the Khairatabad, the lowest among the three constituencies that went for by-elections in the city, localities like Jubilee Hills and Madhapur recorded around 30 per cent of poll percentage, in spite of maximum number of educated voters.

The Civil Societies feel that the Election Commission should concentrate on preparation of correct voter list and fix responsibility on the persons in-charge of the work for any large-scale omissions like that happened on Thursday.

Though there are checks and balances for removal of names from voter list, the staff preparing voter list had scant regard for rules. The names were deleted at will without following any procedure. When a citizen got an Electoral Photo Identity Card (EPIC), it was presumed that his name was included in the voter list. The staff of municipal or MRO office too would not respond to persons coming for voter verification.