The Election Commission of India has devised a plan to encourage voters in Uttar Pradesh, which recorded a tepid turnout of 59.11 per cent in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, to exercise their franchise in the upcoming general elections. As part of its Turnout Implementation Plan (TIP), the poll body has shortlisted 10 of UPs 80 Lok Sabha constituencies where the voter turnout was lower than the states polling percentage. These Lok Sabha constituencies are Phulpur (48.57 per cent), Kanpur (51.39 per cent), Allahabad (51.75 per cent), Shravasti (52.05 per cent), Gonda (52.11 per cent), Domariyaganj (52.26 per cent), Pratapgarh (53.36 per cent), Bhadohi (53.45 per cent), Amethi (54.05 per cent) and Sant Kabir Nagar (54.15 per cent). The voter turnout in Uttar Pradesh in the 2019 elections was quite low at 59.11 per cent, even though the state has the highest number of voters. So, efforts are being made with utmost attention and in a concentrated manner to ensure that more and more people are enrolled as voters as subsequently they cast their votes. We call this roll to poll, said UPs Chief Electoral Officer Navdeep Rinwa. This time, a Turnout Implementation Plan has been made and constituencies and booths where polling has been low have been shortlisted. Now, why the voting has been less there, the (district) collectors will personally go there and see. They will try to convince, appeal and request the voters to participate in elections, Rinwa said. An overall voter turnout of 67 per cent was recorded in the country in the last Lok Sabha elections. The voter awareness express vans will go to Kanpur, Prayagraj, Bhadohi, Shravasti, Balrampur, Gonda, Siddharthnagar, Pratapgarh, Amethi, Rae Bareli, Ambedkar Nagar, Sant Kabir Nagar, Ghazipur, Ballia, Bahraich, Lucknow, Kaushambi Jaunpur, Varanasi, Gorakhpur, Azamgarh and Deoria. According to Election Commission data, there are approximately 15.29 crore voters in Uttar Pradesh (as on January 23). This includes 8.14 crore male voters, 7.15 crore female voters and 7,705 transgender voters. Rinwa on Thursday emphasised on efforts to get voting turnout above 70 %. Following a review meeting on Thursday, the CEO said, Back in 2019, the polling percentage of UP was 59.21 point. This needs to go above 70 per cent. He said that SVEEP (systematic voters education and electoral participation) activities should be conducted more frequently, so that voters could be motivated for registration and voting and the voting percentage in the state could rise. All departments should display slogans, videos, messages etc. related to voter awareness on their websites and portal, he said, adding that the Election Commission of India had signed memorandums of understanding with the Education department, Postal Department and Indian Bank Association to widely spread voter awareness.

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