A Tale of Joy and Woe for First-Time Voters

HYDERABAD: The state Legislative Assembly polls on Thursday were a tale of two emotions for first-time voters: jubilation, for those who cast their votes, and heartbreak, for those whose names were missing from the lists.

Nineteen-year-old Leesa Dorcas, a second-year undergraduate student, said she enrolled in October and got a confirmation of the same as well. But on Thursday, when she walked into Saraswathi Hall in Boggulkunta, her name was missing from the rolls for choosing the Goshamahal MLA.

Dr K. Danaraj, a resident of Adarshnagar who went to vote along with his entire family, said his daughter’s name was missing from the list, leaving her disheartened. “I was excited to cast my vote. As a first-time voter, I wanted to be a part of this mammoth festival of democracy. Finding out that I could not vote was disheartening,” the daughter said.

Mohammed Falah Ali of Attapur said he submitted all required documents when officials were conducting enrolment drives, but his name was not to be found on the day of voting.

Nineteen-year-old Maria Osman and 18-year-old Mohammed Ishaq, siblings, were overjoyed at the voting experience as it was their first time. After casting their votes at the ZP High School in Attapur, one of them said: “We grew up listening about democratic elections, processing of casting the vote and now, we got a chance to take part. We are happy to be safeguarding democracy.”