PANJIM: A total of 11.09 lakh voters are eligible to exercise their franchise in the February 4 Assembly elections that will bring a new government in Goa.
While 49,921 new voters have been registered, 26,731 voters names have been deleted in the enrolment process.
There are 820 service enrolments this time and the Election Commission of India has enrolled 40 voters from the Vanarmare community, who will vote for the first time in the State.
Releasing the electoral roll for the 2017 Assembly elections, Chief Electoral Officer Kunal said around 2 lakh new EPIC cards will be distributed by January 15 to 20. He said voters need not panic and appealed to keep their faith in the commission, and that within the mentioned time the EPIC cards will be dispatched.
He said that voting awareness is being conducted through the social media, especially through Facebook and Whatsapp. He said that the electoral office in Goa has six Whatsapp groups and a Facebook page which is growing in popularity daily. A number of voters have also been reached out to by ways of advertisements and publicity.
Following the release of the electoral roll, there was a demonstration of the VVPAT machine to the people, government servants and political parties. The machine is being used for the first time in Goa and voters will be able to verify that their vote has been cast for the candidate of their choice as a printed slip will appear in the compartment that will later drop into the box.
