Indirapuram: Can you vote if your name is not on the electoral rolls?
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Indirapuram: Can you vote if your name is not on the electoral rolls?

With several hundred people facing anomalies in their voter cards and electoral rolls, seems like many people eager to cast their votes will not be able to do so...

Indirapuram: Can you vote if your name is not on the electoral rolls?

Residents of several societies in Indirapuram might be unable to cast their votes in the upcoming assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh.

Speaking to City Spidey, residents of several societies said most of them were not enlisted in the district's voter list.

Ajay Singhal, a resident of ATS Advantage in Indirapuram, said that only 330 of the total 3,000 to 4,000 adults in the society were registered as voters. "There were only 90 names listed in the voters list last year," said Singhal. "Despite around 600 residents applying for registration, only 330 were registered. "We are expecting a second list, which is to arrive on February 8. It might have more additions,"

The situation is similar in Amrapali Village. Rakesh Kumar, general secretary of the society, said of the 1,500 adults in the society, only 900 can vote. 

Amardeep Singh Vig, an AOA member of Aditya Mega City, who had acted as a block level volunteer, told City Spidey that although there were around 3,500 adult residents, only 1,058 were registered voters. Vig said residents keen to vote were facing a host of other problems. "There are some residents whose names have not appeared on the electoral rolls, some who are yet to receive their voter cards and there are some whose voter cards have erroneous information or typographical errors," said Vig. "I have applied for some corrections to be made in my voter card but am yet to receive the card. Luckily, I still have my voter's slip." 

Akash Jain, a resident of Aditya Mega City, told City Spidey that his name mysteriously vanished from this year's voter list despite it being there in the 2012 list. "I have a voter ID card but I won't be able to vote," added Jain. 

AOA members who acted as block level volunteers think carelessness on the part of residents and BLOs (block level officers) could have been the reason for the problem.

City Spidey took up the issues with Nidhi Kesarwani, District Magistrate of Ghaziabad, who is also the district election officer. Speaking about the situation, she said issues such as unavailability of residents might have come up during verification, due to which the names were struck off from the voter list. However, the DM maintained that a draft voter's roll was published on September 15 2016, inviting corrections. "After the draft roll publication, a 45-day window was issued calling requests for corrections and objections from residents by the administration. We gave special attention to Indirapuram since most of the residents here are migrants and are new to the area. This is quite a common problem in this area," she added.

On being asked about whether residents with such anomalies could cast their votes, she said the only ones allowed to vote are the ones whose names were on the electoral rolls.