13.89 lakh people seek enrolment in voters' list

The Chief Electoral Officer (CET) Anil Kumar Jha said on Monday that 13.89 lakh new applications for enrolment in the voters’ list had been received from across the State ahead of Lok Sabha elections. Of them, 79,831 applications were submitted online.

The special drives held on March 9 and March 16 led to a spur in the enrolment. About 1.38 applications were received in Bangalore South, North, Central and Urban segments alone.

The total number of applications received in each district is, however, yet to be determined, Jha said. It is expected that apart from the special drives, the applications received in person and online may increase the total number of applications from Bangalore.

On Monday, the Election Commission of India began the spot verifications of the new applications. The entire process is expected to be completed by March 26. The commission will try to issue identity cards to voters in a week thereafter, Jha added.

As many 1,200 applications for enrolment in the voters’ list have been received from Non-Resident Indians (NRIs). The list of such applications is, however, yet to be completed.

Meanwhile, a review meeting on the commission’s preparedness for the elections will be held at Vidhana Soudha on Tuesday. Officials of Home, Excise and other departments concerned are expected to be in attendance.

The commission would make the None Of The Above (NOTA) option available to voters at the end of the list of candidates whose symbols are placed on the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs). “If there are 10 candidates on the list, the NOTA will be the 11th option. We have already completed the first level checking (FLC) of EVMs. The three or four districts where EVM verification remains to be done will be covered in the next two days,” Jha said.

On the limit on candidates’ expenditure, the CEO said that whatever they spent until the day of filing the nomination would be considered the respective the political party’s expenditure. The candidates will have to declare the expenditure in their submission to the commission, he added. “Once the candidates file nomination, the Rs 70 lakh cap will be considered for each one of them,” he said.