ECI wants to increase voting in Chennai by 10%

The District Election Office (DEO) has set a lofty goal for itself: a 10% increase in Chennai’s voting rate. In every election since then, the city’s polling percentage has lagged below the state and national averages.

During a conference in New Delhi, representatives of the Election Commission of India recently explored ways to increase voting in urban areas, attributing the low voter turnout to “urban apathy.” Attending the conference were election authorities from many cities, including Chennai.

The Chennai DEO office has identified regions in each assembly seat where the voter participation was less than forty percent, in accordance with the representation given to the ECI. The assembly seats of Sholinganallur, Thousand Lights, Anna Nagar, and Villivakkam are the most numerous places with less than 40% voter participation.

The poll panel has enlisted the help of resident welfare groups from as many as 588 high-rise flats and 228 residential places around the city to improve its voter engagement initiatives.

On Sunday, a neighborhood run was held in Anna Nagar to raise awareness of the importance of everyone exercising their right to vote. A “sand art” piece near the handicapped-accessible ramp at Marina Beach was also launched by District Election Officer J Radhakrishnan as part of the voter education initiative.

Subsequently, he examined the second training session for personnel tasked with conducting elections in Chennai. 19,396 officials in all will be stationed at 3,726 polling places around the city.

In order to get their opinions on election readiness, the DEO also convened consultation sessions with expenditure and special election observers.

In the city, postal voting for seniors and PwD starts today.

Chennai: In order to make postal voting for the Lok Sabha elections easier for the elderly and crippled, the District Election Office in Chennai has organized 67 teams. Individuals who are 40% or less disabled are eligible to use this provision. Up to now, the office has sent out 38,552 12D forms and received 4,538 properly completed forms. Thus far, 363 PwD voters and 4,175 voters over the age of 85 have submitted the forms.

The voters in the 18 assembly constituencies under the three Lok Sabha seats in the city will be served by the 67 teams. The relevant returning officers will receive the sealed ballots. The drill is planned to take place from April 8 to April 13.