Special programme to train Surat voters in e-voting

The state election commission (SEC)'s much-hyped e-voting facility has received less than favourable response in Surat, with only 161 voters in the city registering themselves for it.
However, the civic body has organised a special one-day programme to train voters who wish to vote from their homes.

The programme will be conducted by top SEC officials at the civic centre in Rander on September 14. Mock e-voting will also be demonstrated to the voters.

Interestingly, there are 24.80 lakh voters in Surat who will cast their votes at the upcoming polls. The SMC has selected Rander for the e-voting project, as it is considered the area with the maximum number of well-to-do families. While the entire project was promoted greatly by the civic body, not many Surat residents showed interest in it. Even the SMC itself was unable to point out the reasons for the same. However, in accordance with the SEC's decision, the e-voting demonstration programme has still been organised.

Apart from e-voting from home, the SEC also proposed having e-polling booths in the city. This move also met with poor response, with only 179 voters showing interest. Looking at the cost of creating e-polling booths vis-à-vis the number of voters, the SEC dropped the idea for this election.

"E-voting will take time to gain popularity among voters in India, who are used to ballot papers and EVM. When we inquired with people, we realised that they find internet voting more time consuming. Besides, some fear about internet connectivity or say they do not know to operate computers," a top civic official said, requesting anonymity.