TDP, BJP leaders submit memoranda to CEO on strengthening the electoral process

TDP leaders Alapati Rajendra Prasad (MLC), former MLC P. Ashok Babu, and A.P. Education & Welfare Infrastructure Development Corporation (APEWIDC) Chairman K. Raja Sekhar submitted a memorandum to Chief Electoral Officer Vivek Yadav at the Secretariat on Thursday (July 24, 2025) on strengthening the electoral process within the legal framework.

They made 13 suggestions for ensuring free, fair and transparent elections, which were the cornerstone of a vibrant democracy.

Some of the important suggestions were to advise the Booth-Level Agents (BLAs) and Booth-Level Officers (BLOs) to gather information related to deaths from the local bodies at prescribed intervals and update the voters’ list accordingly, avoid the ‘zero door number’ system, and adopt a permanent methodology that sorts out the inconsistencies thereof. They also suggested that a family residing in the same door number / premises should be allotted the same polling station and that better amenities be provided to the Returning Officers by allowing them to take private premises like schools, colleges and halls, and devise a separate mechanism using the present technology for deleting duplicate votes.

Further, the TDP leaders also recommended that extra time be given to cast votes to make up for the time lost due to the malfunctioning of the EVMs, the size of the parties’ symbols in the VVPAT devices should be increased. They also sought that the involvement of youth in the voting process should be increased by spreading awareness about the importance of getting themselves enrolled as and when they attain 18 years of age. Further, they sought facilities to the elderly, differently-abled persons, and pregnant women to avoid inconvenience, and that a photo revision programme be taken up at fixed intervals.

A BJP delegation, comprising K. Dileep and U. Srinivasa Raju, requested the CEO to strengthen the BLO training and monitoring, use GIS tools for rationalising polling stations, fully adopt ERONet across districts, do real-time syncing of data with death and migration records, strictly adhere to the Representation of People Act, implement the SVEEP programme in low registration areas, and make schools / colleges as voter enrollment hubs.