NOIDA: If your local RWA is organising a voter registration camp, make sure it is approved by the state election commission . On Wednesday, Uttar Pradesh chief electoral officer (CEO) L Venkateshwarlu made it clear that any voter registration exercise undertaken single-handedly by an NGO or residents’ body will be considered invalid.The only way to get voter registration or correction done is to check the voter list at the local booth or election office or online on the website of the Election Commission, the CEO said in a meeting with residents and industry bodies in Noida. The window for voter registration is on till October 30.“If anomalies are found or names missing, then corrections should be done only through local booth/election office by filling the requisite forms 6, 7 or 8 as the case may be,” he added.Venkateshwarlu, who was on a day-long visit to review ongoing voter registration camps in Gautam Budh Nagar and Ghaziabad, also urged residents to go out and vote in large numbers. “Informed, ethical voting through maximum participation is the main foundation of democracy,” he said.On industry representatives pointing out the need for voter cards for thousands of Noida’s migrant workers, CEO Venkateshwarlu said that any resident can get a voter id card made. “So there should not be any problem,” he added.When two residents — Colonel P Chandra and Alok Shroff from sectors 76 and 77, respectively — raised a demand for voter registration drive in highrises, district magistrate BN Singh, who was also present in the meeting, ruled it out and called on all residents to take the help of the booth-level drive underway to ensure names are entered and corrections done.Earlier in the day, the CEO held a meeting with representatives of political parties, including SP, BSP and BJP, in which issues relating to polling booths, voting lists and missing voter cards were raised. “While some demanded polling booth corrections, others mentioned names missing on voter lists or no voter card received despite filling forms,” Keshav Kumar, ADM Noida, told TOI.Kumar said a designated procedure is prescribed for polling booth-related requests, which include written requests from respective political parties. The written request is then sent for district, state and central election commission’s approval.“Only after proper investigation on a written request for a particular polling booth or objection to it, by any political party, does the election commission provides necessary approvals. That too is done within the window prescribed. In Gautam Budh Nagar’s case, the window ended on July 31 this year. Hence no requests on additional polling booths or their corrections from political parties will be entertained now,” he said.However, registering for a voter card or correcting anomalies in voter list can still be done till October 30 under the current voter registration/correction drive held by the district administration, said Kumar.“So far, 9000 forms have been received in Noida (starting from the first camp held on September 9). We expect an increase of up to 50,000 to a lakh once the drive comes to an end in October this year,” he added.

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