Where should I vote? Migrants confused (TOI)

Times of India news article march 9-09

Bangalore : March 31 is just a couple of weeks away. Chandru, a Bangalorean settled in Hyderbad for three years now, is worried. “I want to vote. But where? My old ID card is invalid as my name has been removed from the list there. Further, I don’t know if I need to register again here,” he says.

Sunil, a techie from Chennai who has been living in Bangalore for almost four years now, finds himself in a similar fix. “I’m yet to get my ID card done as I moved out of my home town to study and then landed a job elsewhere. Being constantly on the move, I really found it hard to register myself on the electoral rolls,” he explains, adding, “But, I do want to vote.”

Many like them have migrated and lived elsewhere for years — without voting or even knowing they need to update themselves on the electoral roll.
The rule says that on shifting to a new city, if you plan to stay at your new place of residence for six months or longer, you are an ordinary resident of this place and can register to vote from there.

There’s no accurate figure on the migrant population in the city. But, a rather common observation is that a majority of them, particularly college students and employees in software firms, do not think much about their right to vote. For many, life in a new city very rarely extends beyond accommodation, travel and fixing utility services. Very few make it mandatory to go for voter ID revision.

However, some others do make that effort. Like Mansi Murali, 23, who got a new voter ID card three months ago. “I had no clue about the system and the rules, but thanks to my husband’s insistence, I can vote now,” says this homemaker from Mumbai who moved to Bangalore two years ago. A few voters like B Inbaraj, a techie from Trichy in Bangalore for over two years, do not hesitate going back home for elections to cast their vote.

“The issue at large remains to be tackled yet as a very small percentage (15-20%) of the migratory population casts its vote,” says Rajeev Chandrasekhar, MP and ABIDe convener. People seem to suffer from a general lack of awareness of their rights and apathy towards the place and the candidates there — many of them do not get too involved in it…[more]