30,000 may not vote8230;

MUMBAI, February 10: Over 30,000 voters may not be able to vote in the Parliamentary polls to be held later this month as the Mumbai Suburba...

MUMBAI, February 10: Over 30,000 voters may not be able to vote in the Parliamentary polls to be held later this month as the Mumbai Suburban District Collectorate has not yet verified their names for inclusion in the voters list.

These are the voters who have applied to the suburban collectorate with Form Number 6, for change of residence. While the city Collector8217;s office has included 6927 new voters in the electoral rolls, the suburban figures read only 73.

The last date for submitting Form No 6 was January 27, after which the electoral rolls were frozen on February 4 last week 8211; the last day for filing nominations.

quot;We have included only 73 persons since we have received only 73 certificates from the adjoining constituencies stating that their names have been deleted from the voting list there,quot; Mumbai suburban Collector Dr Sanjay Chahande explained.

According to Chahande, his office had received 32,000 applications which were still under consideration. However, he agreed that these applicantsmay not be able to vote on election day.

quot;The last electoral rolls summary revision was done on November 15, and there was ample opportunity for all to include their names,quot; Chahande said.

As per Election Commission EC guidelines, a voter who applies with Form Number 6 is expected to prove his change of residence with a ration card and other identifications. This is verified by the Collector8217;s office. So if the voter changes residence from place X to place Y, he can vote in constituency Y only after verifying that his name has been deleted from constituency X. quot;This is to ensure that no bogus voting takes place,quot; explained an election officer.

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Sources attributed the low inclusion in the electoral roll to a zero inclusion, zero deletion8217; drive being undertaken by the suburban Collector. quot;While the Collector may be genuine in his intention of keeping out bogus voters as per EC directives, a lot of genuine voters may not be able to vote,quot; said an election official. The vast discrepancy betweeninclusions in the voters8217; list in the two collectorates has led to some apprehension amongst officers in the city collectorate. However, applicants are largely uninformed about their exclusion from electoral rolls. These, electoral rolls will be distributed amongst the various political parties on February 20.