Right to vote is one of the most important fundamental rights provided by the Constitution to every citizen. In the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections, many citizens could not exercise their right to franchise as their names were missing form the voter list. Since the Lok Sabha elections, a total of 2,77,786 citizens in the district have applied for registration for voting as of October 20. The increase in number of voters is perhaps due to awareness drive carried out by administration and also citizens do make it a point to check their names in the list as they realised the lost opporunity during the General election.

 

Kamptee Assembly constituency has seen most number of application in the district with 40,324 citizens applying followed by Nagpur (South-West) that has 35,630 applications. Nagpur (East) has the third highest applications with 32,606. Katol constituency has seen the lowest number of applications for new voters in the district with only 9,180 people applying to vote. Umred constituency is a bit higher up the ladder with 9,219 applications while Saoner has 9,889 applications for new voters registration. Since the General election, District Administration, under the leadership of Dr Vipin Itankar, District Collector, has worked hard to ensure no voter misses their chance to vote in upcoming Assembly election.

 

The administration had conducted a Special Summery Revision Programme (SSR) in July as per instructions of Election Commission of India (ECI) under which the voters were encouraged to check and update their names in the voter list. The administration also conducted a special campaign to increase voter registration in month of August after publication of draft voter lists. Under the campaign, the Booth Level Officers (BLO) were present on weekends at each booth to solve objections of citizens regarding draft voter lists. The administration conducted meetings with political parties and encouraged them to contribute in voter registration process. They also saught help from social media influencers to spread awareness regarding voter registration process before the election. As on October 20, there are total 45,04,996 registered voters in the district including 98,429 young electors between the age of 18 years and 19 years along with 57,837 senior citizens above age of 85 years. There are 50.05% male voters and 49.94% female voters in the district.