Voter awareness campaigns have a crucial role to play, says DC Dr. K.V. Rajendra

Mysore/Mysuru: Elaborate preparations have started at the level of the District Administration in view of ensuing 2023 Assembly elections. Yesterday, the administration established an Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) and Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) demonstration centre in the district to sensitise the voters about these machines used in elections.

The first centre has been opened at the Deputy Commissioner’s Office. The DC is also the District Election Officer. Many other centres will also be established at taluk levels to create awareness.

DC Dr. K.V. Rajendra has appealed to the residents of the district to visit these demonstration centres to get basic information about working of the EVM and VVPAT machines. He also explained to some visitors how they can cast their vote in the EVMs, and made a visitor experience the demonstration by asking him to vote in the machine.

He told the office staff to continue conducting demonstrations for visitors. Awareness campaigns will be held in cities and towns of Assembly Constituencies of Mysuru to spread awareness among voters about EVMs and VVPATs. The DC said supervisors and booth-level officers have been asked to ensure the maximum reach of these machines.

Additional Deputy Commissioner Kavita Rajaram, Joint Director of Food and Civil Supplies Kumuda, Elections Tahsildar Ramprasad, Additional SP B.N. Nandini, Excise Commissioner Ravishankar and others were present.

Initiate wider voter awareness

At an event held in Kalamandira yesterday to mark the 52nd National Safety Day, DC Dr. K.V. Rajendra asked the officers to carry out voter awareness campaigns at all institutions, towns, factories, companies and villages to bring in more and more voters.

He said that the founding fathers of the Constitution had an instinctive faith in the citizenry of our country and therefore gifted Universal Adult Franchise to the Indian populace while other democracies took years before extending this right to all its citizens. It is therefore our collective responsibility to value and preserve this right and in this endeavour voter awareness campaigns have a crucial role to play, he added.

Through Systematic Voters’ Education and Electoral Participation (SVEEP), the district has been spreading voter awareness and promoting voter literacy in India.

Officers have been working towards preparing the electors and equipping them with basic knowledge related to the electoral process. The primary goal is to build a truly participative democracy by encouraging all eligible citizens to vote and make an informed decision during the elections.

Nodal Officers have been given the additional responsibility of educating voters and others at their workplace and ensuring that everyone is familiar with the electoral procedure right from enrolment to the casting of the vote.

Officers have been directed to start campaigns under SVEEP to surpass the average polling figure. The focus will be on those villages particularly where the percentage of polling was witnessed below State average, he added.