Turnout high in Bellary elections

The voter slip is aimed at ensuring a high turnout in elections.

By Isha Bajpai

BANGALORE (Nov. 30)—The elections being conducted today in the Bellary constituency had seen a turnout of 33 percent by 1 p.m. which is high, according to the State Election Commission.

The commission issued voter slips to all eligible voters in the constituency three days ago to try to assure maximum participation.
The voter slips are printed with the voter’s name, polling station and the date of the poll. Distributing them door to door is costly because it requires a lot of manpower.

“Even those who have lost their voter ID or other government-listed identity proofs can participate in these elections by showing these slips,” said R. Manoj, special officer (elections).

Ninety-two percent of eligible voters in the constituency possess a valid form of identification. Those who do not have such documents but have been registered at a voting station will be given a voter slip. Manoj said voter slips had been issued to all 172,000 eligible voters in the constituency.

“This has been executed such that a level playing field is created for all candidates from such a move,” he said.

Manoj also said that polling booths have been set up with voter accessibility in mind. Polling booths have been set up no more than a kilometer apart. The State Election Commission will not provide transportation for voters to the booths to prevent political parties bussing in voters for themselves.

The National Election Commission has proposed the provision of a “none of the above” button in voting machines,  and the central government is considering the proposal.

The State Election Commission has also made available information including the number of vehicles the commission used, the expenses it incurred and the cases and complaints registered in the process of conducting the election on its website and has provided the same information to the press.

“We have done this as a self-monitoring measure,” Manoj said.