Managed to vote for the first time this time around .I cast my vote in Jamshedpur for the constituency of the same name.It was your typical Jam morning with mercury in the forties but I was excited nevertheless having spent days trawling election websites and watching countless debates on Television.What I particularly like are statistics and the numbers in the exit polls.One thing about statistics such as the number of Lok Sabha constituencies per state is that it makes you starkly aware of the population distribution across states.Do you know that if UP was a country of it's own,it would be the sixth most populous nation on the planet?UP elects 80 MPs to the Lok Sabha.But this is along expected lines.But which is the state with the next biggest contingent of MP's?It is Maharashtra with 48 MPs and then next in line is AP and WB with 42 seats apiece.The polling booth was DBMS school and when we arrived there were very few people with 'stalls' of political parties set up outside to help people find their identification numbers in the copy of the electoral roll.We found our names but there were no photographs against them.We walked into the polling station and there were two classrooms earmarked for voting.Each had a security guard standing outside but the whole set up was anything but intimidating.When my chance came,one officer checked my Electoral ID card and before I could step into the Booth another officer inked my finger but surprisingly no part of the ink touched my nail.I walked into the booth and took a minute to gaze at the EVM and all the candidates and their symbols and then pressed the button against my chosen candidate.There was a loud beep registering my vote and I was done.It was all over in practically ten seconds because the officer was coaxing me to vacate the booth quickly.It was my mom's turn after this and she took some time to put on her glasses,look at the list and then press the button,she did not take more than fifteen seconds but the officer was already mumbling about people taking time which infuriated mom and she turned around and gave him a piece of her mind.
It was as good a voting experience as it gets,quite often people have to wait for long hours sometimes in adverse weather conditions but there is one thing I would like to point out for people who are confused about the procedure of procuring voter's ID card and getting their names on the electoral roll.There is no clear link between getting a voter's ID card and getting your name on the roll.The voter's ID card is to be seen as an Address proof.The reason it is usually insisted upon is because most rural and poor voters have nothing else which can act as a proof of residence.But us Urban voters have a plethora of cads such as driving license,Passport,Ration card or PAN card.The more important thing is to get your name on the electoral roll and technically it is possible for you to vote in more than one constituency if you have names on more than one electoral roll (you can furnish your Election ID card in one and your other card in the other constituency)
PS:This was in draft mode for a long time.
6 comments:
hehe, I can imagine Aunty giving a piece of her mind to the hapless officer. :D It will have taught him to be more patient at least for a while. :)
btw... for some reason, this post I thought does not match up to your generally high standards of writing, though it is still good.
Good to see you're catching up with the blog :).
@IP:You are right about this post not being up to the mark.I wrote this post across three sittings in two cities. :-)
I was elated with the election results, and this post lives up to the occasion. I didn't know you could even have your name on the electoral list of two constituencies! Technically, it shouldn't be allowed right? So you need to furnish proof that you have been living in a constituency for xyz number of years for them to put you on the list, right? Or else how does it work?
So you need to furnish proof that you have been living in a constituency for xyz number of years for them to put you on the list, right?I don't think you have to mention the number of years that you have been living in a particular place,just the fact that you have been living in that place.Once you have got your name on the list,it is not that it will be removed.usually what happens is that electoral officers visit your house to verify the number of people living there(this is done before any elections),So if your name is already on the list,they will put a tick against it and find out if any more members need to be added to the list.If not then,they will add your name to the list after verifying any identity proof that can be furbished at that moment
Technically,it is not allowed to have your name in more than one list and the election commission will perhaps take some action when it becomes aware of any transgression but it is not that there is a central database of voters and their profiles.All such data lies with the State election commissions.
dint vote. :)
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