EC chooses to pass blame on voters’ list

BY J.R.PRASAD
Hyderabad, Feb. 7: Political parties and voters cannot blame the Election Commission for errors in the voters list.In a move to pre-empt criticism, the EC has decided to involve political parties and voters in spotting errors in the electoral rolls.The EC will hold two booth-level meetings across the state on February 14, 15 and again on February21, 22. About 70,000 polling agents are expected to take part and vet the voters list.“Anyone can walk in and verify whether his or her name is included in the voters list or not,” the Chief Electoral Officer, Mr I.V. Subba Rao, said. “If the name is not there, eligible voters can submit applications and get themselves registered.”Mr Rao, on Saturday briefed representatives of political parties on the preparedness of the Election Commission for the forthcoming polls.Mr Rao also said the Election Commission would hold a drive from February 18 to 28 across the state to create awareness among new voters on the process of voting through Electronic Voting Machines.An EVM will be kept in every village and poll officials will demonstrate functioning of the machine. “Any voter can operate the machine,” Mr Rao said.For the convenience of voters, the Election Commission will set up another 10,000 polling stations in addition to the existing 56,000 for the polls.