How would you feel if the electoral roll declares you dead or your name is missing though you had checked and cross-checked it several times before? Or you go to the polling booth, excited and thrilled, and find out that someone else has already voted on your behalf?
Well, many Bengalureans underwent such kinds of experiences on Saturday.
Take the case of Ramamani Kumar who had enrolled as a voter in the Vijayanagar Assembly constituency. When she showed up at the polling booth, officials told her she was "dead" and that her name had been deleted from the list. But she didn't give it up. She called up her daughter and friends for help. They rushed to the spot. After a half-day argument with the polling staff, she managed to find her name on ceokarnataka.com, forcing the officials to correct their mistake and allow her to vote.
In Kamalanagar, Lavanya H C could not find her name after she changed her address. But her husband's name was very much on the list and he did vote. The couple went to nearby polling stations, searching for her name.
Aparna G Udupa, a 36-year-old social worker, was very upset that her name was deleted from the list. She went to various polling booths, searching for her name. A polling officer told her she was not home when the surveying officer went to her house for verification. Aparna said she felt dejected because she had encouraged many people to vote and that she herself couldn't vote.
Priya Darshini Kumar said it was not an isolated incident. Many people were turned away in Govindarajanagar and Vijayanagar constituencies. "They are snatching our chance to vote," she added.
Polling officials reported a large number of such errors from Pulakeshinagar, Vijayanagar, Nagarabhavi, Vidyaranyapura, Rajajinagar, Chandra Layout and Gandhinagar.
Proxy voting
Lalitha Venugopal, from Hanumanthanagar, was inconsolable when the presiding officer at the polling booth at Auden Institute of Education in Banashankari 3rd Stage told her when she showed up for voting at 3 pm that someone else had already voted on her behalf. The officer refused to allow her to vote despite her protests. Lalitha has vowed never to vote again.