The State Election Commission (SEC Maharashtra) on Tuesday announced that 9.12 crore citizens, including 10.18 lakh first-time voters, are eligible to vote for Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha polls in the state.
The SEC had conducted a special summary revision programme and a door-to-door survey from October 27, 2023 to January 23, 2024 to update the electoral rolls. As per the election body, over four lakh new voters have been added in the last three months alone.
Chief electoral officer Shrikant Deshpande said that out of the new voters, 1,01,869 are male voters, 3,08,306 are female voters and 572 are transgender persons. Due to the cooperation of women’s self help groups and anganwadi workers, housing societies have witnessed a significant increase in registrations by women this year.
The SEC has appealed to citizens to go visit electoralsearch.eci.gov.in and confirm their details. It also requested central agencies like the CBI, the Enforcement Directorate, and the Income-Tax department to help them to conduct inducement-free elections.
Deshpande said that the percentage of new voters in the final rolls has increased significantly due to the campaigns conducted during the special summary revision. “However, we need to focus on first-time voters as they are still showing apathy towards the electoral process. We will conduct a special drive at colleges and universities to get people enrolled before the Lok Sabha polls,” he said.
Deshpande said he also met political party office bearers and informed them that they can keep their representatives at booth levels to monitor the numbers of voters.
