Bhubaneswar: The Odisha State Election Commission (SEC) is set to undertake a special pilot survey in the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) area to identify and rectify discrepancies in electoral rolls ahead of the upcoming panchayat and municipal elections.
The pilot door-to-door survey will be conducted from September 3 to 11 across three selected wards under three Assembly constituencies within the BMC limits. The exercise will cover Ward No. 10 of the Bhubaneswar-North Assembly constituency, Ward No. 35 of Bhubaneswar-Central and Ward No. 52 of Bhubaneswar-Ekamra.
The pilot exercise aims to identify shortcomings in the existing voter lists and develop a more transparent, accurate and systematic system for preparing electoral rolls for the upcoming local body elections.
Following the pilot survey, the SEC plans to conduct a statewide door-to-door verification drive from October 26 to November 7. The exercise will cover electoral rolls relating to panchayat and urban local body constituencies across Odisha.
According to the SEC, one of the key issues that the survey seeks to address is the practice of members of the same family being enrolled at different polling booths. Discrepancies involving unclear or inconsistent house numbers are another problem that the exercise intends to resolve.
In several urban areas, Assembly polling booths do not have clearly defined geographical boundaries. As a result, voters from 10 to 12 different localities may be attached to a single polling booth.
In some instances, voters residing in one ward are required to cast their votes at polling stations located in another ward. Such arrangements can cause inconvenience and have been identified as one of the factors discouraging voters from visiting polling stations.
The new exercise is expected to help ensure that members of a family are assigned to the same polling station wherever appropriate. Similarly, where voters belonging to the same ward have been included in the electoral rolls of different wards, the discrepancies will be examined and corrected.
The SEC believes that rationalising polling booth and voter-list arrangements will make the voting process easier and more convenient for citizens.
Officials also expect the exercise to contribute to improving voter turnout in urban areas, where polling percentages have traditionally been lower than desired.
The State Election Commission has appealed to citizens to extend full cooperation to the survey teams comprising Booth Level Officers (BLOs) and other officials.
The public has been urged to provide correct and complete information during the door-to-door verification process so that discrepancies in the electoral rolls can be identified and corrected.
State Election Commissioner Madhusudan Padhi said the exercise would pave the way for preparing a transparent, accurate and systematic voter list across Odisha.
The SEC expects the pilot project in BMC to provide useful inputs for the statewide exercise and help establish a more efficient system of electoral roll management ahead of the forthcoming panchayat and municipal elections.
