Kohima, May 8: Authorities in Nagaland are suspicious of the high percentage of turnout of citizens to exercise their franchise in the parliamentary polls. Even as rampant proxy voting was recorded in Kohima on polling day by a team of journalists, statistics from other Assembly segments are more surprising.
In Longleng district’s two constituencies, Tamlu and Longleng, over 99.8 per cent voting was recorded. Only 33 persons from the 30,866 electorate in Tamlu have not voted according to the election office records here.
From the 16,790 voters in the Siyuchong-Sitimi Assembly constituency, 16,758 citizens cast their votes. Longleng had witnessed more than 99 per cent voting in earlier polls too.
This time, though, one of the factors for the high polling rate is the resolution of the Phom People’s Council to go en masse for the NPF candidate.
Phom Nagas dominate Longleng district. Not many, however, see the developments to be a victory for Indian democracy. “Some say it is a victory, others say it is murder of democracy,” said chief electoral officer, Lalthara.
He said Nagaland has a long record of high polling. Last parliamentary polls though, saw only about 76 per cent voting for the state’s lone Lok Sabha seat.
Intensive revision of electoral rolls has not been done in Nagaland since 1995.
While summary revisions have been done from time to time, the exercise does not entail door-to-door surveys by officials. As a result, there have admittedly been negligence, even as dead people are said to have surfaced on electoral rolls in several places.
But it is not always the increase in voters that is disturbing the authorities.
At polling booth number 18 in the Kohima town Assembly segment a whopping 502 names were struck off during the last summary revision.
“Therefore, there was a problem when many people came up without their names on the rolls to cast their votes on polling day,” said Lalthara.
However, the increasing number of voters is more commonly observed.
Altogether 47 of the 60 Assembly segments in the state have registered more than 90 per cent polling last week.
Mokokchung, Zunheboto, Wokha, Mon and Longleng districts registered such figures.
Officials said there has been cent percent polling at several booths in the state.
A skewed co-relation between those supposed to vote through postal ballot and the unusually high voting percentage is another issue that is worrying election department officials.
There were over 20,000 personnel, including policemen and polling officers on duty during the polls, making them about two per cent of the total 10.45 lakh electorate in the state.
However, a majority have not polled through the postal ballot, making the entire exercise of polling suspect, say observers.
The election office informed that those who have not cast their votes through postal ballots could still fill up forms and deposit them at the respective deputy commissioners’ offices in the state.