Telangana Polls: Missing Names Leave Voters Disappointed

Hyderabad: Enthusiastic voters who came to vote in the Assembly elections were disappointed to find their names missing from the voter list on Thursday, though they had voted in the 2018 state polls and the 2019 general elections.

Some people, who couldn't locate their names on the GHMC app and website were astounded to find them at the polling station through a manual search.

Asfia Begum, a resident of Turabnagar, was disheartened to find her name missing from the electoral list. After visiting three different polling stations near her home, she said, "I voted at this very polling station for the Lok Sabha elections in 2019 and Assembly polls in 2018; it's sad to know that my name would be deleted from the list just like that."

Chrysolite K., who found her name on the website, failed to see her name in the electoral list that presiding officers had with them...

Karunakar H. and his son Charan, whose names were absent on the app, discovered them at the polling station. Karunakar shared, "My wife and daughter's name showed at this station. We tagged along and had them check the pages manually only to find our names."

Maliha Unnissa, a 20-year-old first-time voter in Kapra, shared a comparable experience. "My twin brother's name showed up, but not mine. The presiding officers checked using my voter ID on their mobiles but could not find it. When I sat down and checked every page of the voter list, I found mine. I am happy to have found mine, but I worry what would've happened if I wasn't stubborn about it,"  she said.

Frustration escalated, with some voters walking away when unable to locate their names. One disgruntled voter grumbled, "The officers told me they can't help me and asked me to apply another time so I'll be able to vote at least for the general elections."

Then there was the case of voters in one family finding the poll authorities had ‘separated’ them. Mulla Mubarak, a resident of Rajanagar, said that while his wife could vote, he could not. “I have been residing in the same rented house but don’t know why my vote is missing from the voter list,” he said.

Similar was the case of Kommu Bhaskar Yadav in Gandhinagar, who said that of the eight members in his family, three could vote and five couldn’t. “The problem started since the GHMC elections. We never had a problem before that,” Yadav said. “We were told that our names are not there on the list. All eight of us had voted in the 2018 polls.”

Sankar, a volunteer who was assisting voters in Gandhinagar, said the names of some voters had been shifted to Kavadiguda. “Even in the case of couples, while one voted at Gandhinagar, the other had to vote in another division. In Khairatabad division, some votes were shifted to Malkajgiri.”

Pointing to another problem, he said the city had four or five Jawaharnagars and the staff should have been careful while issuing the identity cards. “They should have taken the pin code or some parameter to avoid such mistakes. The Election Commission staff are not properly enumerating the rolls and are relying on party cadre and not reaching out to the actual voters hence these mistakes in the rolls,” Sankar said.

Polling stations experienced a surge in crowds during the early hours of 7-8 am, a lull until 1 pm, another spike around 2 pm, and increased activity after 4.20 pm. As poll officers attempted a quick lunch break, impatient voters took matters into their own hands, scanning the lists on empty benches.

A few latecomers, meanwhile, made hurried attempts after 5 pm, trying to convince the officials using various reasons of work, unable to find the polling station, a family member casting their vote at another polling station, and more.