Assam chief electoral officer Mukesh Sahu on Monday said those people who have their names enrolled in the electoral rolls will be able to cast their votes in the ensuing Lok Sabha polls.
A total of 2,17,60,604 voters are set to exercise their franchise in the three-phased Lok Sabha polls in Assam, said Sahu.
“Those whose names are included in the electoral rolls can cast their votes,” said the CEO when asked about the fate of those whose names were excluded in the draft National Register of Citizens (NRC) published by the Assam government last year.
Also read: Lok Sabha poll to begin from April 11, counting on May 23
There was confusion among a large section of people in Assam whether those excluded from the draft NRC could cast their votes or not.
The draft NRC published last year excluded a little over 40 lakh people from the citizenship register.
It may be mentioned that the Election Commission of India (ECI) on Sunday announced the dates of Lok Sabha polls in Assam along with the rest of the country.
Also read: Assam: Congress & BJP welcome poll dates for state
Assam will see a three-phased Lok Sabha polls to be held on April 11, April 18 and April 23 covering 14 Lok Sabha constituencies of the state.
Sahu said there are 2,17,60,604 eligible voters in Assam as of now including 1,06,27,822 female voters.
“There are 7,06,489 first time voters this time who are between the age group of 18 to 19 years,” he said adding that the number of first time female voters are 3,01,774.
Asked about the sensitivity of the polling stations, Sahu said that out of total 28,143 polling stations across the state, 3,663 have been identified as ‘hyper sensitive’ and 1,913 have been identified as ‘critical’ polling stations.
“The vulnerability assessment is, however, a continuous process and a final list will be prepared later to ascertain the sensitive, hyper sensitive and critical polling stations,” he said.
While a total of 75,16,284 voters are set to cast their votes during the first phase of polling in Assam on April 11, an estimated 68,36,494 voters will cast their votes in the second phase on April 18.
A total of 74,07,824 voters set to cast their votes in the third phase of polling on April 23, the CEO said.
