Drive to encourage first-time voters

A major drive to encourage first-time voters will continue till October 31 (including weekends),for which forms are being distributed in colleges through specially appointed coordinators.

District collector Vikas Deshmukh said he conducted meetings with college principals and they have agreed to appoint the coordinators. The forms will be distributed at the colleges, he said.

In order to make the drive more effective,he has spoken to political parties and they have appointed Booth Level Agents who will collect forms from various areas and submit 10 forms at a time to the designated offices.

We have given them permission to submit 10 forms at a time and a maximum of 30 forms by the end of the month, he said. He added that special thrust was being laid on dead/shifted voters. He said that shifted voters were an issue especially in the city areas with no track record of where the person has shifted unlike in rural areas. To spread awareness regarding the drive among citizens,the department has conducted street plays,painting and essay competitions.

The draft roll of the voters list will be published on January 1 and the final list will be out on January 5 next year. As of now,the district has around 65 lakh voters. The new drive will ensure that all the voters are registered in the district ahead of the 2014 elections. Last years drive saw 1.26 lakh new voters. The voter ID card or the EPIC card will be distributed by the department and the final list is likely to be published on January 25.

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