I took a train from my college in Gujarat (GNLU in Gandhinagar) Saturday night in order to cast my first vote on Sunday, 12 May, for the sixth phase of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. I reached home at 6:45 am and went straight to vote at 7am. Upon reaching the polling booth, number 154 in the Badshahpur Assembly in Gurugram, I was informed that my name was not in the list. Appalled by this, I instantly got on the website of NVSP and decided to check for myself.
To the surprise of the officers on duty, my name was on the list available online, with the polling booth number, my enrolment number and the address of the polling booth that I was standing at.
The polling booth agent, who was in charge of giving voters the slips, informed me that I should have objected instantly when the list was released and should not have relied on the hope that the election commission will do its job. But my name was, in fact, on the list.
I decided to approach the officers sitting inside the room, but was refrained from doing so. One of the members who was helping in the procedure took my voter ID and my phone to check if I was actually speaking the truth.
He also told me that my name was not in the ‘entire’ list and they cannot help me with it. Disappointed, I decided to check the physical copy list on my own. I found out that close to 60 names were missing from the list that was provided to the officers.
Yet, I was constantly informed that it was somehow my mistake, and not the mistake of the authority that those names weren't there. An hour later, it had come to the point when I did not see the light at the end of this tunnel and gave up the hope of casting my vote.
I went outside and asked some officers sitting outside the details of the officer-in-charge, so that I could file a proper complaint. Suddenly, everyone started listening to me when I threatened to complain. Which I did do.
Some phone numbers were dialled, and the updated list appeared out of thin air, inside the polling booth. I was informed that my name was indeed there and I was given the permission to vote.
Regardless of what happened, this exercise was clearly an infringement of my right to vote. While I may have had the knowledge to complain, but in another scenario those 60 names would have not been allowed to cast their vote. This is not how the system should work. Isn’t this oppression?
I want the Election Commission to look into the matter, even though nothing can compensate for the mental harassment that was caused.
The process of voting isn’t supposed to be cumbersome. It should take 2 minutes, not 2 HOURS! No one can take away my right to vote, not even the EC officials who were not doing their job!
That is not how democracy runs in India, Election Commission.
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