Mumbai: Missing names add to confusion in voters

Television writer Harneet Singh was upset to find her name missing in the voters' list at the allotted polling centre in Andheri West.


Dhamraj Malayya

Dhamraj Malayya, 65, travelled from Bhayander to Bandra to cast his vote. However, disappointment awaited him as he reached the booth. “I was unable to vote because my name was not in the list,” he said.

While many Mumbaikars stepped out to vote and several others skipped it for reasons best known to them, it seems some could not vote. Reason being that their names were missing from the electoral roll.

Television writer Harneet Singh was upset to find her name missing in the voters' list at the allotted polling centre in Andheri West. Having voted during the last elections, she made sure she got her name registered in this year's list after changing her residence in the suburb. "I was shocked to see that my name didn't show up. 

When I told the officer that I got the booth details from the website and was carrying a print of the same, he said it might have got deleted afterwards," she says, adding, "I went through the complete list of my residential complex, hoping to find my name there. I was even helping other older people find the appropriate booths at the polling centre, while simultaneously hoping to also find my name in the list. But all my efforts came to nought."

Hiren Kotwani, a journalist who also changed his residence post the 2014 polls, ensured that he got his name enlisted in the 2019 voters list in time. However, after waiting in the queue for two hours, he found that his name was not in the voting list.