Pune, Aug 09, 2023: Distress has mounted among citizens in Maharashtra as over 2 lakh applications from new voters remain pending, raising concerns about the sluggish pace of the online voter registration clearance process.
As of the first week of August, the state election officials are grappling with more than two lakh pending applications from new voters. This situation has left many individuals unable to track the status of their applications and has caused confusion about the online registration procedure. With general and assembly elections on the horizon for the following year, the Election Commission of India (ECI) has intensified the voter registration campaign throughout the state. The total number of pending applications with the state’s chief electoral office stands at approximately 5 lakh. This count encompasses applications for new voter registration, deletion, and change of address. Officials have disclosed that at least 53.82% of the total forms, submitted both offline and online, are awaiting action by the chief electoral office.
Citizens have expressed frustration due to the delay in processing their applications. A Pune resident who applied online as a new voter in June has not yet received any confirmation. Similarly, a resident of Baramati faced rejection of her online application twice and is awaiting confirmation after reapplying for the third time last month.
Election officials have acknowledged that the verification process is intricate and comprehensive, often requiring slightly over a month from verification to the final issuance of the electoral photo identity card (EPIC).
Despite holding regular meetings to expedite the process, the substantial number of pending forms across the state necessitates meticulous verification. The chief electoral office has also received around 80,000 applications for the deletion of names until the first week of August. In response to the backlog, citizens have advocated for increased manpower and a swifter clearance process for the application forms, with some suggesting the establishment of a help desk to facilitate inquiries about application statuses.
The latest statistics reveal that a total of 9.44 lakh forms were received by the first week of August, with 5.08 lakh forms still awaiting action. Furthermore, nearly 1 lakh forms have yet to be assigned to booth-level officers.
As per the guidelines set by the ECI, a special summary revision drive is slated for October-November, and the final list will be compiled in December, scheduled for publication during the first week of January.
