Bhubaneswar: The State Election Commission (SEC) will launch a special pilot survey in three wards under the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) from September 3 to rectify discrepancies in electoral rolls ahead of the panchayat and urban local body elections in the state, official sources said Monday.
The door-to-door pilot survey, which will begin September 3 and conclude September 11, will cover Ward 10 under Bhubaneswar-North Assembly constituency, Ward 35 under Bhubaneswar-Central Assembly constituency and Ward 52 under Bhubaneswar-Ekamra Assembly constituency, they said. Following the pilot exercise, a statewide door-to-door survey will be conducted by Booth Level Officers (BLOs) and other officials from October 26 to November 7 to streamline the electoral rolls for the panchayat and urban local body elections and make them transparent, systematic and error-free, they added. The main objective of the survey is to find a permanent solution to issues such as members of the same family being enrolled at different polling stations and ambiguity over house numbers, the sources said. In urban areas, polling booths in many Assembly constituencies do not have clearly defined geographical boundaries.
As a result, voters from 10 to 12 different localities are sometimes enrolled at a single polling station. In some cases, residents of one ward are required to cast their votes in another ward. Such discrepancies often cause inconvenience to voters and may discourage them from visiting polling stations to exercise their franchise, they said. The SEC plans to ensure through the survey that, wherever feasible, all eligible members of a family are enrolled at the same polling station.
Similarly, voters belonging to a particular ward but currently enrolled in different wards will be brought under the appropriate ward after verification. The SEC believes that rationalising polling stations and ward-wise electoral rolls could help address one of the factors contributing to relatively low voter turnout in urban areas and make the voting process more convenient for citizens.
State Election Commissioner Madhusudan Padhi appealed to people to provide accurate information and extend full cooperation to the BLOs and other officials engaged in the survey. He said the exercise would help the SEC prepare a transparent, error-free and systematic electoral roll across the state.
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