An election with flawed Voter’s Rolls is a mockery of Democracy……

 

In view of this, on Monday 31st March 2008, Vote Bangalore protested against the inaccurate electoral rolls, at Mahatma Gandhi statue near MG road from 10.30 am to 12 noon.

 

Vote Bangalore demanded answers from the authorities and stated that quick rectification on this matter is imperative to have freer and fair elections. In a country where change is waiting to happen, it is essential to provide the citizens with an error free electoral system to enable each citizen to cast his or her vote. Such initiatives are essential to amplify the voice of the people above the din of corruption.  

 

It has been said that when everything is in place, nobody notices. But, when things aren’t going right, there is much to lose. For, how many times have we got lost due to a mistake in a map, and who can forget the debacle of the US Presidential elections at the turn of the millennium, where America suffered miscounts due to hanging chads attached precariously to poorly designed ballots. Imagine the catastrophe that will result when there are errors in the electoral rolls. Such is the state of our elections and voting system.

 

So far the Karnataka government has incorporated only a few cosmetic changes to improve the state of electoral rolls, however, the structural anomalies in the delineation of polling booth areas are still prevalent and rampant.

 

During the protest, the crowd shouted slogans like “Voter’s List, Sari Maadi”, “Clean Rolls…Important”, but one sentence that drove home the point was really “Yelli Orage Horatta?” Indeed!

 

For Revathi, a resident of Biyappana Halli slum, the right to vote translates into their voice to demand for secure accommodations, schools where they can send their children to study, hospitals and toilets, electricity and drinking water, all of which is either scarce or non existent.

 

In many cases, names have disappeared from the voting list, or simply don’t exist. Annamalai (Byappana Halli) said that many people who have been residing in the slum for the past 25 years, do not find their names on the voter’s list, even if they possess a Voters ID card. Their names have been replaced with names of people from various other localities.

 

They have been told by authorities that changes will be made during the next Parliamentary Elections, but for these people and our country…the wait has been too long.

 

To rectify the situation, a delegation from Vote Bengaluru submitted a memorandum at the Office of the Chief Electoral Officer – Karnataka. The members of the VB team also met the Governor and submitted their petition. While appreciating the efforts of the VB team in this regard, the Hon'ble Governor suggested that the team forward the report to the Chief Secretary and assured that he would take note of the issues raised in their report.

 

As one of the protestor, Jai Kumar, stated “Our country has attained independence, yet we have none.” Vote Bengaluru is striving towards achieving this freedom for all citizens and we urge you to join us and support this cause.Together with Vote Bengaluru we can all help make India a true democracy again.