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Telangana Election Body Urged to Ease Voter Registration Guidelines for Graduates' MLC Elections | ||
Hyderabad, Telangana, India Kasani Veeresh, General Secretary, Jana Jagruthi Academy today in a strongly worded letter urged the Telangana State Election Commission to ease guidelines around the ongoing Graduates’ Voter Registration drive. The letter asked the state election body to take cognizance of the negative impact of COVID on voter turnout and immediately implement corrective measures to address the issue.
Kasani Veeresh, General Secretary, Jana Jagruthi Academy submitting the representation to Dr. Shashank Goel Garu, Chief Electoral Officer – Telangana
The letter advised corrective measures to address two large problem areas affecting the registration numbers – low awareness about the initiative and complicated voter registration process. The letter addressed to Dr. Shashank Goel, Chief Electoral Officer – Telangana, informed the state election body about the barriers faced by graduate voters on-ground due to COVID restrictions. The letter suggested the following steps to offset the negative impact of COVID on the registration process.
Kasani Veeresh, General Secretary, Jana Jagruthi Academy on submitting the application to State Election Commission said, “I have requested the State Election Commission of Telangana to extend the deadline for voter registration and accept self-attestation of educational documents for online voter application in view of the low voter turnout in Graduates’ Voter Registration program. Chasing gazetted officers and notary officers for verification of documents during COVID puts a voter’s health at risk.”
He further added, “State Election Commission of Telangana must immediately depute door-to-door verification teams and follow the same modus operandi used to verify voters in Assembly Elections and Lok Sabha Elections.”
While conducting Graduates’ voter awareness program which resulted in 35,000+ registrations for the initiative, the team lead Jana Jagruthi Academy noted very low awareness levels on the ground for Graduates’ Voter Registration drive. The letter apprised the state body on the broken information channels due to COVID restrictions and resistance of voters from stepping outdoors for document verification. Veeresh Kasani in the letter also expressed his fear that lakhs of graduates will choose not to register their votes in case the voter registration guidelines are not relaxed.
The team at Jana Jagruthi Academy also made sure to only suggest changes which require no big systemic change and are quick to implement.
About Kasani Veeresh Kasani Veeresh is a second-generation politician from the state of Telangana and has been working for over a decade on initiatives around voter awareness, caste discrimination and women empowerment. Kasani Veeresh also serves as the General Secretary for Telangana Rashtra Mudiraj Mahasabha and 93 BC Kulala Ekya Vedika. He has also served as the president for Telangana District Cricket Association from 2007-18. |
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