Lok Sabha polls | Senior citizen from Madurai whose name was missing on voter list writes to CEC, gets prompt response, casts vote

Chief Election Commissioner ensures 72-year-old Madurai resident's right to vote after name disappears from voter list.

The office of the Chief Election Commissioner, New Delhi directed the Returning Officer for Madurai, to ensure that S. Mahaboob John, 72, a resident of West Ponnagaram Fourth Street in Madurai got to cast his vote on Friday, April 19, 2024.

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Speaking to The Hindu, Mr. John said that his name was missing on the voter list released on April 5 by the Madurai District Election Officer, even though it had been there on the draft rolls released on January 22. “How did my name go missing. I had neither given any application for cancellation/deletion, nor did I receive any message on my registered mobile number from the Election Commission stating that my name would be deleted,” he said.

When he informed the Returning Officer Madurai over the phone, she had asked him to check with the officer concerned. Approaching the staff at the election wing in Madurai, did not get him any result, he claimed and with time running short, he was upset and confused. Finally, Mr. John sent a mail to the Chief Election Commissioner, New Delhi on April 16 to which he instantly received an acknowledgment. The Election wing officials at the Chennai Secretariat also acknowledged that his grievance had been registered with the National Grievance Services Portal.

On the night of April 18, Mr. Mahaboob John received another communication from the CEC office stating that he could go to his designated polling station and cast his vote.

Thanking advocates Henri Tiphagne and Satyamurthi for their guidance, Mr. John said that while officials in Madurai had conducted many awareness programs on the need to exercise the right to vote, such an indifferent attitude over a genuine grievance had caused him disappointment. He thanked the CEC and others for the swift action taken.