SHILLONG: In an attempt to encourage more and more citizens of the state to exercise their right to vote, the Election Commission has announced the rewarding of select voters across the date.
The Chief Electoral Officer of Meghalaya, F R Kharkongor announced on Friday that the first five voters and five first-time voters of each of the polling stations across the state will be given medals and certificates. This will encourage more and more people in the state, especially those who have just crossed the age of 18 to exercise their constitutional rights.
The Chief Electoral Officer also mentioned that the women of the state are more conscious about their rights compared to men. Not only number of female voters exceed the number of males in the electoral roll, but also the turnout of women also remained higher than men in several of the past elections in the state. He also added that several strategies will be utilised by the officials to attract more voters, including the engagement of local musicians in the process.
"We have engaged musical bands and musical troupes to promote voting. We would organise 'My vote My Valentine' in 300 polling stations where the turnout was previously slightly less," F R Kharkongor mentioned. He added that there will be 120 all-woman-managed polling stations across the state.
The latest Meghalaya electoral roll has a total of 2161729 names. Out of that, 1068801 are male and 1092326 are female.
The voting takes place on February 27 and the counting is to take place on March 2. The Chief Electoral Officer mentioned that the Union Home Ministry had provided 120 companies of the Central Armed Police Forces to the state. This step has been taken to ensure a free, fair and transparent election process and prevent poll-related violence.
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