Over 2 lakh voters added on Day 1 of special drive

As many as 2.61 lakh people were added to the voters' list as part of a special drive, which began on Sunday. The drive will continue across the state to ensure maximum voters are registered before the elections.

The total number of voters registered after the latest revision, which was done in January, was 7,89,66,642; the number of voters in the last Lok Sabha elections was 7,28,40,245. Officials said that as per census figures around 8-10 lakh voters are yet to register themselves.

Special camps have been organised at all polling stations, where you can have a look at the electoral roll and Form 6, which a voter has to fill up to register himself/herself, is also made available there. Forms can also be downloaded from the state election commission's website http://ceo.maharashtra.gov.in.

The drive will continue till March 12 in the Nagpur and Amravati divisions, where elections are due in the first phase, till March 16 in places where elections are due in the second phase and till March 25 for elections in the third phase.

Citizens can register themselves in the voters' list till the last date of filing of nominations. Out of the 7,89,66,642 voters registered after the revision, 4,18,41,916 are men and 3,71,24,456 are women. The gender ratio this year has dipped slightly as compared with the 2009 Lok Sabha elections — 887 women voters for every 1,000 men as compared with 910 for every 1,000 in 2009.

"We are hoping to better the numbers in the coming few days, as long as the drive lasts. The figures are bound to go up. We expect the remaining eligible voters to register themselves soon," said an official of the state electoral department.