<p>Bengaluru recorded a lower voter turnout of 54.53% compared to the state's 73.19%, which, though blamed on voter apathy, experts faulted the Election Commission for not raising awareness among immigrants to vote.</p>.<p>Dr C M Lakshmana, a professor with the population research centre at ISEC, said Bengaluru’s higher population does not naturally translate into votes. “Tier 1 cities see population growth that is not reflected in the electoral rolls because about 40 per cent of the growth is due to migration,” he said.</p>.<p>Besides the issue of duplicate entries in the electoral rolls, focus must be given to raise awareness among migrants, who make up a substantial urban population, to update their addresses, Dr Lakshmana added.</p>.<p>Urban mobility expert Ashwin Mahesh said the onus lies with the Election Commission (EC) to fix its systems and promote voter participation.</p>.<p>“The EC must create a single national database online, where anyone can enroll and easily change their details,” he said, adding that the poll body should hold voter registration in colleges and make the voting process flexible to make citizens vote across days and locations.</p>.<p>Anand Theertha, an IT professional working to spread electoral awareness in the city, pointed to the inability of first timers to receive the EPIC number update via SMS, leaving them ignorant about their eligibility.</p>.<p>Civic activist Srinivas Alavilli believed that all dynamic cities with high urban mobility such as Mumbai and Chennai face the “low” voter turnout issue. “As people move from one place to another, the voter list must be updated, else people’s names will remain in multiple constituencies, inflating the voter list,” he said.</p>.<p>He said the seemingly complicated process of deleting duplicate entries from the voters list "shows the EC’s inability to maintain a clean database despite the issue repeating." He also added that the EC must take Bengaluru as a case study to fix the database by holding special drives at the booth level with active community involvement, which should be done before the BBMP council elections.</p>.<p>A senior official with Karnataka Chief Electoral Office (CEO) admitted to lack of awareness among migrants about the option to vote from the constituencies they reside.</p>.<p>“Without visiting any office, citizens can change their residential address from the voter ID by submitting an application (Form 8A) online,” said the official, adding the change can be made every year and would help people living in rented houses.</p>.<p>The official said about 30 lakh voters were added to the electoral rolls across the state in the last six months. “We have simplified the process of applying for a new voter ID or making any modifications, but there needs to be a greater awareness about these options,” he added.</p>
<p>Bengaluru recorded a lower voter turnout of 54.53% compared to the state's 73.19%, which, though blamed on voter apathy, experts faulted the Election Commission for not raising awareness among immigrants to vote.</p>.<p>Dr C M Lakshmana, a professor with the population research centre at ISEC, said Bengaluru’s higher population does not naturally translate into votes. “Tier 1 cities see population growth that is not reflected in the electoral rolls because about 40 per cent of the growth is due to migration,” he said.</p>.<p>Besides the issue of duplicate entries in the electoral rolls, focus must be given to raise awareness among migrants, who make up a substantial urban population, to update their addresses, Dr Lakshmana added.</p>.<p>Urban mobility expert Ashwin Mahesh said the onus lies with the Election Commission (EC) to fix its systems and promote voter participation.</p>.<p>“The EC must create a single national database online, where anyone can enroll and easily change their details,” he said, adding that the poll body should hold voter registration in colleges and make the voting process flexible to make citizens vote across days and locations.</p>.<p>Anand Theertha, an IT professional working to spread electoral awareness in the city, pointed to the inability of first timers to receive the EPIC number update via SMS, leaving them ignorant about their eligibility.</p>.<p>Civic activist Srinivas Alavilli believed that all dynamic cities with high urban mobility such as Mumbai and Chennai face the “low” voter turnout issue. “As people move from one place to another, the voter list must be updated, else people’s names will remain in multiple constituencies, inflating the voter list,” he said.</p>.<p>He said the seemingly complicated process of deleting duplicate entries from the voters list "shows the EC’s inability to maintain a clean database despite the issue repeating." He also added that the EC must take Bengaluru as a case study to fix the database by holding special drives at the booth level with active community involvement, which should be done before the BBMP council elections.</p>.<p>A senior official with Karnataka Chief Electoral Office (CEO) admitted to lack of awareness among migrants about the option to vote from the constituencies they reside.</p>.<p>“Without visiting any office, citizens can change their residential address from the voter ID by submitting an application (Form 8A) online,” said the official, adding the change can be made every year and would help people living in rented houses.</p>.<p>The official said about 30 lakh voters were added to the electoral rolls across the state in the last six months. “We have simplified the process of applying for a new voter ID or making any modifications, but there needs to be a greater awareness about these options,” he added.</p>