Nearly 3 lakh applications for inclusion in electoral rolls in Ernakulam

The Hindu

3 days ago

Nearly 3 lakh applications have been received for inclusion of names in the electoral rolls in Ernakulam district when the time to apply for inclusion, deletion, correction, and transposition (shifting from one place of residence to another within the same constituency) in the draft electoral rolls ended on August 12 midnight.
The exact number of applications received for inclusions stood at 2,93,541 whereas that for deletions was pegged at 65,594. Another 1,447 applications have been received for corrections and 16,081 for transposition.
'Notices for hearing at the Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) concerned have been automatically generated at the time of submission of applications itself. Applicants can either turn up at the date and time given on notices or before or after that date, after proper intimation,' said Sunil Mathew, Deputy Collector, Election, Ernakulam. Secretaries of local bodies double up as EROs. The final electoral rolls will be published on August 30 ahead of the local body polls later this year.
With electoral rolls at the centre of a political storm in Kerala and across the country, EROs have been asked to exercise extreme caution in finalising and publishing the voters' list. EROs have been reminded of the authority bestowed on them by the State Election Commission whereby they can take suo motu action in the draft electoral rolls for the local body polls if they come across mistaken deletions and transpositions without waiting for applications from voters concerned. The only thing is that such suo motu action should entail a mandatory seven-day notice.
Meanwhile, the total number of divisions in local bodies across Ernakulam district has increased by 175 post delimitation. In Kochi Corporation, the number of divisions has gone up by two from 74 to 76, whereas in 13 municipalities across the district, the number of divisions has risen by 26 from the existing 421 to 447 divisions.
The number of divisions in 82 grama panchayats has increased by 129, from 1,338 to 1,467. In 14 block panchayats, the number of divisions has increased by 17 from 185 to 202, and in Ernakulam district panchayat from 27 to 28.