Thane district records 2 lakh newly registered voters in three months
Increasing migratory population one of the reasons for the district to top new registrations in state
The recently conducted revision of the voters’ list has revealed a surge in the number of newly registered voters in Thane.
The district has accepted around 2.8 lakh new registrations since September — the highest in the state. Close on the heels is Mumbai suburban at 2.1 lakh, followed by Nashik at 1.9 lakh and Pune at 1.6 lakh.
According to the Election Commission (EC), the increasing migratory population in Thane, Kalyan, Airoli, and Ambernath is one of the reasons for the rise in voter registration. Kalyan rural and Murbad each saw more than 30,000 new voter registrations.
In Thane, the numbers increase when the revised registrations are added, bringing it to a total of over 3 lakh voters who have filled the forms from the district. The revision in the voters’ list started from May 15. Booth level officers will now go to every home in the district to verify the voters’ list before the final details are released.
“We have around 6,000 people who are shifting within the same constituency, and another 30,000 who have deleted their names from the list. Most of them have deleted their names as they have shifted from Thane district,” said Aparna Somani, district election officer, Thane.
Among the 3 lakh who have recently registered, 1.59 lakh voters are women and 1.87 are men. Till September this year, there were 58.8 lakh voters within Thane district which includes parts of Mira Bhayander, Airoli, and Belapur.
“As real estate prices in Mumbai city are growing, many find Thane and Mumbai suburbs more affordable. Also, there is a noted increase in voters from Kalyan rural and Murbad. As parts of Ambernath and Badlapur are developing quickly, there is a great increase in voters there,” said Rajesh Narvekar, collector, Thane district.
According to officials at the election commission, till September there were more than 9 lakh residual voters or those voters who had not included their photographs in their registrations and 38,498 have requested corrections or additions of photographs.
The exact figures will be released only after booth level officers confirm all the registrations and the forms undergo a filtering process before the final list is out in January 2019.
Despite the rise in registrations, many voters claim to have a tough time getting their names on the list and found glitches while filling the forms online.
“Although we have submitted our data, there does not seem to be any progress for the last one month. Also, the system is slow and we found it difficult to fill in the details at one go,” said Kartik Venkat, 19, resident of Kopri.
“I found it a little confusing to fill the correction related to form 8 as there is a spelling error in my surname. I opted for the manual form filling in the end as I was not sure the online form would get through,” said Kalpana Salunkhe, 24, resident of Majiwada.
Lack of help and guidance on the online form filling system has also led to many opting for the help desks put up at various locations.
Most of the booth level officers are teachers and they are currently on Diwali break so the process can be delayed a bit. With such a huge number of registrations, the staffers deployed by the EC are burdened with the tedious work, an official at the Thane EC said.
