100% mapping of voters need of hour: Maharashtra CEO

Maharashtra Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) S Chockalingam has said 100 per cent mapping of voters was the need of the hour in order to bring transparency and accuracy in the election process, and admitted that the State was somewhat lagging behind on this front.

He was addressing a ‘Special In-depth Review’ meeting held in Thane on Friday.

“To bring transparency and accuracy in the voting process, 100 per cent mapping of voter lists is the need of the hour. The administrative system should work with dedication to cross the ‘magic figure’ of 90 to 94 per cent,” he said, according to a release issued by the Thane district administration on Saturday. He said Maharashtra was somewhat lagging behind other States in voter list mapping, with districts like Thane and Palghar requiring faster progress.

The Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter rolls is set to begin across Maharashtra this month for updating electoral data for error-free rolls.

The CEO stressed the need for a combination of technology and fieldwork, directing booth-level officers (BLOs) and electoral staff to undertake door-to-door verification and maintain geo-tagged photographic records to ensure transparency.

“Mapping voters with earlier electoral rolls and verifying their original residence is the backbone of this campaign,” he said, adding that notices should be pasted outside houses of unavailable voters and documented. Highlighting issues, such as duplicate entries and unclear photographs, Chockalingam said officials must take corrective action to eliminate discrepancies.