SHILLONG, JAN 17: Meghalaya has a total number of 18,92,716 voters as per the final electoral roll published on Thursday.
“As we go into the parliamentary polls, we will have a final published roll of 18,92,716 which is closed to 19 lakhs,” State Chief Electoral Officer Frederick Roy Kharkongor said while speaking at the state level function for the final publication of electoral rolls.
He said earlier the total number of voters stand at 18,46,625 when the draft electoral roll was published in September last year. There are over 46,091 new voters enrolled.
Stating that Meghalaya always have a healthy gender ratio in term of women electorate vis-à-vis men, Kharkongor said, “Our gender ratio is 1021 which is healthier than the Census which is at 989. In term of female participation and enrolment, the state has always been of the best in the country.”
The CEO said 98.43 percent voters are in the age of 18 years and above category against the projected population.
“We still have a gap of 1.66 percent but we will put in effort to close this gap to ensure no voter is left behind,” he added.
He however said that with the publishing of the final electoral roll, it does not mean that people who are not enrolled will no longer get a chance adding there is a process of updation and people who are intending voters can come forward for enrolment.
The CEO informed that preparation for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections to the Shillong and Tura parliamentary seats is on and said, “…we will all collectively work together and try to improve the poll percentage in as far as MP elections is concerned.”
Admitting that urban apathy is something which needs to be addressed, Kharkongor said the department is contemplating to having a “queue-less voting” besides coming up with adequate measures to make it conducive for people to come and vote.
Asked, he said in the past it has been seen that people especially in the urban centres have distaste towards standing in queue.
“We are trying to explore measures like having waiting rooms and systems where voters can be informed how many people are there in the queue etc and see how they can contribute towards having a queue-less voting,” he said.
Meanwhile, the CEO informed that a call free number ‘1950’ will be launched during the national voters day on January 25. He said this will help voters to check and find out whether his/her name is in the electoral roll.
The function was also attended by deputy commissioner of East Khasi Hills District Matsiewdor War Nongbri, representatives of different political parties and election officials.
By Our Reporter
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