With just about 48 hours to go for polling in the Lok Sabha elections, authorities have said that more than 90% of the voters have been issued the voter information slips, commonly referred to as “booth slips”, in Tiruchi district. However, there were complaints from a section of city residents that they had not received the slips.
The slips issued on behalf of the Election Commission with details of voters and their polling stations where they would exercise their franchise were distributed through over 2,500 booth-level officers (BLOs).
The BLOs were required to obtain the signature of an adult member of the household on handing over the slips to the family. BLOs had been instructed to make two or three rounds of visits to ensure that the slips are distributed to all voters, the officials said.
The exercise, which commenced on April 1, was expected to be completed by April 13. However, official sources told The Hindu on Tuesday that the exercise was still under way.
M. Pradeep Kumar, Collector and District Election Officer, said 93% of the voters in Tiruchi district had been issued the slips. Those who were not available at their residences may not have received the slips. The exercise would most probably be completed by Tuesday evening, he said.
A random check with residents revealed that voters in some parts of the city such as Khajamalai and Thennur had not received the slips till Tuesday evening. H. Ghouse Baig, a resident of Khajamalai, said that he and other voters in the locality had not received the slips till Tuesday evening. “My friends in the nearby Dargah Street too had not received them,” he said.
Some of the voters at Vamadam, Ukkirakaliamman Temple Street, and Sivaprakasam Salai too reported that they had not got the slips. “We are yet to receive the slips. We hope it will be distributed by Thursday,” said N. Jamaluddin, a resident of Ukkirakaliamman Temple Street.
However, residents in most parts of Srirangam and Ariyamangalam and its neigbhour said they had got the slips. In some places such as Balaji Nagar, the slips were distributed on the premises of the residents’ welfare associations, said K. Sakthivel of Balaji Nagar.
Officials clarified that there will be no problem for voters in exercising their franchise, even if they did not receive voter information slips, if their names were on the electoral rolls.
