To send SMS alerts during polls,EC starts collecting voters mobile numbers

You could soon be getting SMSes from the Election Commission informing you about your polling station

You could soon be getting SMSes from the Election Commission informing you about your polling station at the time of elections or of the changes when the rolls get revised.

The EC is in the process of collecting cellphone numbers of all registered voters to put them on its database. Letters have been sent to chief electoral officers of all states and Union Territories to collect the same.

Voters will be able to get an e-slip containing their name,enrolment number and polling station by sending an SMS,said Umesh Sinha,Chief Electoral Officer of Uttar Pradesh. They could use the service to send feedbacks too.

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Text messages will be used to inform voters about events scheduled by the EC such as the voters day programme,Sinha said,as well as to motivate people to go out and vote.

While booth-level officers will be engaged to conduct door-to-door surveys to collect the mobile numbers,voters can also fill a form with their numbers on the EC website.

With Sinha hopeful of completing collection of mobile numbers in UP by May 15,the SMS facility would be available to voters at the time of the Assembly elections. If there is a roll revision,the details of new voters would have to be added.