Portal & helpline hang up on voters trying to register

MUMBAI: Waiting to enrol yourself as a voter? Better hurry because many on the waiting list say the process is far from being smooth as is made out to be in advertisements put up by the Election Commission (EC). Though the EC has pulled out all stops to boost

enrolments

for the upcoming general elections, last-minute applicants are complaining of a trying time in getting registered. Several of those registered too have run into difficulties in verifying whether their names are on the list. The last date for

voter

registration in Mumbai Metropolitan Region and neighbouring regions is March 30.

The most common gripe among those trying to get their names on the list is the performance of the

registration

website—www.nsvp.in. “It doesn’t work properly. Click on any link and it takes you to an error message. Very often, the website itself doesn’t open,” said Nehal Saraf, a Navi Mumbai resident.

On February 24, Saraf, 41, tried to register herself and two of her family members on the website by filling Form 6. “For every application, I had to make three-four attempts and only then could I submit the forms,” she said. “Every time I tried to submit the form at the end of the process, the screen would hang up and take me back to the first step. It was tedious and took up a lot of my time.”

And two weeks later, when she checked the status of her applications on the website, it showed no change. The booth level officer appointment, field verification, and the eventual acceptance or rejection, everything is pending, she claimed. The chief electoral officer has said applications will be processed in 10-12 days.

Versova resident Smriti Bhaya, 22, too has been facing similar issues. It took her two attempts to submit her application on January 14. “The application and submission process were very complicated. It was not easy or user-friendly at all,” she said. It has been nearly two months now, her application has been approved. However, she cannot find her name on the voters’ list.

For issues like these, the Election Commission has set up a helpline—1950. But it is a game of chance to get through to a customer executive to help you. An Andheri resident, who requested anonymity, said the 1950 line left her exasperated. The first time she called to verify whether her name was on the voters’ list, she was greeted with an automated message in Marathi, which she, like many others in the city, do not understand. “They did not repeat the message in any other language,” she said. “I called again and after putting my call on hold for about five minutes, an executive finally answered. But I was put on hold again and then later told that their servers were down and that she should try calling again after some time.”

When TOI contacted officials from the state electoral office, they said that they were aware of the issues and they were taking steps to resolve them. “Some time ago, the website was being updated and voters’ rolls were also being uploaded; hence, it must have slowed down,” said an official. He said as the elections draw near, the number of calls and the waiting time on the helpline are rising.


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