Patna Gears Up for Extensive Voter Awareness Campaign Targeting Colleges and Universities

PATNA: District Election Officer-cum-District Officer, Patna Dr. Chandrashekhar Singh has directed to run voter awareness campaigns on a large scale in all colleges and universities.

He was addressing the electoral registration officers in a meeting organized on this subject at the Collectorate today.

He said that all the Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) and Assistant Electoral Registration Officers (AEROs) should organize election literacy clubs in colleges in their respective areas to encourage youth and women voters to actively participate in the election process by organizing interactive sessions among students to educate them and include the names of 18 to 19-year-old boys and girls in the electoral list.

DM Dr. Singh further directed the officials to organize various programs under the sweep activity related to election literacy, registration, and the election process in the district. He directed that intensive awareness campaigns should be conducted among the vulnerable groups of society.

Actively involve Vikas Mitras, Talimi Markaz, Anganwadi workers and assistants, Asha workers, Jeevika Didis, Block Welfare Officers, and others in this campaign. Connect all the stakeholders like education, welfare, rural development, social welfare, banking, Panchayati Raj, health department, civil society, and others.

He said that on the basis of the qualifying date of 01.01.2024, the program of Special Brief Revision of Electoral Roll, 2024, is being started. As per the schedule prescribed by the Election Commission of India, the draft electoral list will be published on October 27, 2023 (Friday). Claims and objections can be given from October 27 to December 09, 2023 (Saturday). Claims and objections will be processed till December 26, 2023 (Tuesday). The final publication of the electoral list will be done on January 05, 2024. DM Dr. Singh said that special campaign days will be organized on 28.10.2023 (Saturday), 29.10.2023 (Sunday), 25.11.2023 (Saturday), and 26.11.2023 (Sunday). During this period, all the Polling Station Level Officers (BLO), Assistant Electoral Registration Officer (AERO), and Electoral Registration Officer (ERO) will remain active in their respective areas and will do the registration of voters as per the instructions of the Election Commission of India.

Additionally, Dr. Singh said that the entire election system is ready to help eligible voters. Voters are given information about the various forms and processes to be used for registration in the electoral roll. The National Voter Service Portal and Voter Help Line App can be used for online application in all forms. For offline application, District Election Office, Sub-Divisional Election Offices, and BLO can be contacted. Besides, other information related to registration can also be obtained by using voter helpline 1950.

The process of filling the form has also been greatly simplified by the Election Commission of India. Form-6 for becoming a new voter, Form-6A for the registration of overseas electors living outside India, Form-6B for voluntarily linking your Voter ID card with Aadhaar, Form-7 for the deletion of names from the electoral list. And Form-8 can be used to amend the voter list or make changes in your EPIC. On the basis of proof of date of birth (Aadhaar), proof of the usual place of residence, and photographs, any eligible citizen can avail all the facilities sitting at home through the National Voter Service Portal and Voter Helpline App (VHA) said Dr. Singh.

The Election Commission of India has fixed four qualifying dates for registration in the electoral list in a calendar year. All eligible persons who have completed 18 years of age on any of the four qualifying dates i.e. 1st January, 1st April, 1st July, 1st October in a year can apply for registration in the electoral list offline or online in Form 6. can do. After registration, voters will be issued Electoral Photo Identity Card (EPIC). Online application can be made through the Voter Helpline App, Voter Service Portal, Saksham App (for PwD voters).

He further stated that every year, continuous updating of the electoral list is done after a brief revision. This year, from January 27 to September 19, 2023, 49,256 applications have been processed, and the e-roll has been updated.

The DM directed the officials to follow the standard operating procedure with respect to Photo Similar Entries (PSE) and Demographic Similar Entries (DSE), name deletion, etc. from the voter list.

The District Officer said that the universal adult franchise granted by the Constitution is valuable for all of us. The voter list is the basis of the entire election process. He called upon adult citizens, especially youth and women, to get their names added to the voter list in large numbers.

Dr. Singh encouraged all by saying that we all should participate in the election process in a positive manner. We are all committed to conducting free, fair, peaceful, fear-free, and participatory elections. Ind