A little bit of context before you begin reading this book review. I have recently enrolled for an MA in Philosophy at the University of Mumbai. Philosophy is something I have been getting interested in, over the past few years, as those of you who have been reading my blogs and Instagram posts would know. During the pandemic, I thought long and hard about what I wanted to do next, and this is what I eventually came up with. It has been a challenge, getting back into academics as a student at this age, especially in a subject I have no academic background in. However, it has also been very exciting, especially thanks to my wonderful classmates (who, surprisingly, are of all age-groups, including some quite near my own) and my teachers, who have been very supportive and understanding. How well I will do is something that remains to be seen, but so far, I am enjoying this new journey and look forward to where it leads. Now that you know the background , you probably get an idea of how
“I have an election ID card, but I can’t find my name on the voting list.”
“I have received two voting slips, one from my address before marriage, and the present one. Which do I use to vote?”
“My husband has got his voting slip, and my name is on the electoral list. Why isn’t my name on your list?”
These were just a few of the questions I heard as I awaited
my turn today, for exercising my right to vote. By these standards, mine was an easy task, in
spite of the fact that I had mislaid my election ID card!
However, I had some other questions, which I have been
raising for a while now, and which, no one seems to have an answer for. Which is
why, having successfully cast my vote, and unsuccessfully questioned everyone I
could think of, I am finally posting this.
To begin with, my name has been on the electoral list of my
present address for the past 11 years, that is, since my marriage. However, my
name has still not been removed from my previous residence, in spite of
multiple attempts to do so. Thus, my name appears twice, on the electoral lists
of this city.
My husband’s name was misspelled, so, a number of years
back, we applied for a name correction. The correction was done, but not on the
original one, so his name appears twice, on the same list!
My sister in law has been married for over 7 years now, and
we have changed her address on all documents, and even applied for her name to
be removed from the voters list, but her name still appears here, and we duly
get her voting slip too.
My father in law passed away almost a year back, and we have
applied for his name to be removed, but it has not yet been done.
We thus received 6 voting slips this year, while there are just
three eligible voters in the family. Which leads to a voter turnout of 50 % in
just our house. Add to this the fact that my mother in law is not in town, and
the voter turnout drops to 33%. Now, let me add my duplicate name in my
previous residence. That reduces the figure further.
This is the state in just one house in Mumbai. I have been
hearing similar stories from friends and relatives, so this is evidently a
widespread issue. With such a state of affairs, how exactly do we expect
anything over 50% overall turnout?
The election commission has done a splendid job of
digitising the records and making them available online. Unfortunately, the
list is riddled with errors, and the names are so creatively misspelled, that
it is not an easy matter to find our names. The list sorts out names by family,
but that needs a common surname, which we south Indians don’t have. It also
sorts the names by address, but the same addresses are spelled in so many different
ways, that it doesn’t work either. How then do we find our names and ensure
that we perform our duty?
It isnt enough to simply digitise the records, but we need
to ensure that the records are correct. Plus, we also need people who actually
know how to work with computers and understand what an online list means. Unfortunately,
most of the election staff seem to be clueless. When I pointed out the
duplicate names, one of them offered to make me a card for that too. “If having
one card is good, having two cards is better, no?” was his logic.
Meanwhile, my son is mighty amused by the situation, and
wants to know why he can’t vote, considering we have extra voting slips in the
house! Of course, there is that little matter of age, but in this situation, I am
beginning to wonder if there are any underage voters registered too!
It all boils down to lack of competency in implementation. Creating systems is not sufficient,ensuring that there are right people to do the job is also important. Who are doing these jobs, detailed volunteers from government offices, how keen and interested are these people to do a good job? Such jobs must be outsourced to professional companies on payment from the election funds. Only then can some cleaning up happen .
ReplyDeleteI completely agree, Naveen! thats the only way the mess can be cleared. till then, there isnt really much hope for genuine 'high voter turnout' :(
DeleteHi Anu, totally agree with your concern. I think this issue is across all locations. Even with my family too.!!!
ReplyDeleteIts so sad, Sagar, that while so many people's names havent been added to the list, or have even been removed, while so many dead people. and those who have asked for their names to be removed, are still on the same lists. i just hope they take note of this and rectify these problems.
DeleteLack of training of the election staff as is true for all government workers.
ReplyDeleteFurther election process is not given the first priority which it deserves.
WOW! you have just opened another can of worms...and we thought that Mumbaikars were lazy to vote or would just run-away to celebrate a long weekend...but this makes sense and really affects the stats by a wide margin!
ReplyDelete