The Election Commission in India has introduced online registration, to make it easier for voters to register their names on the electoral list. While e-registration has just begun in New Delhi, many voters in interior Bihar districts like Samastipur and Saharsa have already got themselves registered online. It is being treated as a pilot project, which will be extended to all cities in the next phase. The Election Commission has also tied up with MapMyIndia.com to provide geographical information service (GIS). With this, a voter can find the exact location of his/her polling station and the lane in which his/her house is located– through landmarks like cinema-halls, hotels and restaurants. As many as 8,000 polling stations of Delhi have been mapped through this service.
‘‘A voter can sit at home or a cyber cafe and apply for registration in the electoral rolls. The government officials (or the neighbourhood postman) will then come to their homes to verify their signatures,’’ a senior Election Commission official said. On www.ceodelhi.com, voters cannot only apply on Form 6 for fresh registration or if there’s a change of address, they can also apply for modification or correction in the existing rolls on Form 8.
The Commission hit upon the idea of e-registration as well as using the post office for registration of voters while fighting charges of massive deletion of names from voters’ lists in Mumbai and Chennai during the last general election. Around 15,000 voters in Mumbai and 21,000 in Bangalore opted for e-registration, which has already been introduced in 10 state capitals. ‘‘Later, it would be extended to all state capitals and then to the entire country.
