INDIA: Poll Survey For Voters Over 80 Years Old

KOLKATA (The Statesman), December 5, 2003: Election department officials in West Bengal would soon conduct a door-to-door survey to ensure that senior citizens who are above 80 years old and have their names in the electoral roll are alive. State chief electoral officer Mr Basudeb Bandopadhyay said this at the Writers’ Buildings today. “This will be done to ensure free and fair voting in the state. We will check the death registers of the panchyats and municipalities and accordingly delete the names of the voters who are dead from the electoral rolls in keeping with the guidelines of the Election Commission,” Mr Bandyopadhyay said. Around 86 per cent voters in the state have ID cards, he said, adding that the rest (14 per cent) were either reluctant or had left the state. “Out of 464,86,301 voters, around 400,000 voters had received ID cards,” Mr Bandyopadhyay said. Copyright The Statesman Ltd