Vote Bengaluru Protests……….

 

I receive this message. My friend asks me about it.

It is regarding the electoral rolls in Bangalore being riddled with errors, and a group of people protesting.

They should! I mean, this is ridiculous. I can’t understand why the system doesn’t change. This is the new era, all of us are educated and look around us, and we are not far behind anybody else in growth or modernization.

Yeah, I suppose. Something’s got to be done. You know how many times I have suggested various options which could practically solve some of the issues? But, there’s no one to implement my ideas!! That’s why I think other countries are far better.

Seriously, you think this voting system will change?

I want it to..

I think there will have to be more people like us to fix this.

I agree.

So when is this protest?

Monday, 10:30 A.M.

Oh, well you know how work is; we just can’t take time off like that.

Yeah, if it was on Saturday or Sunday, then I suppose we could have made it.

Sunday is better, Saturday, we need our time.

Ok, anyway, we ll see what comes out of this in the newspapers on Tuesday.

And let’s get lunch at Bangalore Central, tomorrow then.

OK. Well I guess by lunch time this will be over and done with.

Yeah, don’t worry, what difference can a protest by a group of people really make?

 

 

 

WHAT DIFFERENCE CAN A PROTEST BY A GROUP OF PEOPLE REALLY MAKE?

 

Mohandas K. Gandhi protested innumerably in India’s Independence Movement, leading the nation to its Freedom, its Independence.

 

The protest by Joseph McNeil, Ezell Blair Jr., Franklin McCain and David Richmand marked the beginning of a grassroots sit – in movement led by African American against segregated public spaces of the South.

 

The Tiananmen Square protests of 1989, against the authoritarianism and economic policies of the ruling CCP, called for democratic reform within the structure of the Government. One Chinese man stood alone to block a line of tanks heading east on Beijing’s Cangan Blvd, in Tiananmen Square on June 5, 1989. The world today only recognizes him as “the unknown rebel”.

 

These were just a few people who fuelled a chain reaction in history by standing by what was right. They didn’t just talk about how bad the situation was, THEY DID SOMETHING ABOUT IT.

 

On Monday 31^st, 2008, you decide whether you want to DO SOMETHING ABOUT THE ISSUE.

 

Change does not wait, we wait for change and when it is waiting to happen don’t say you have no time for it.

 

For background details of this event, Vote Bangaluru speaks:

 

Dear Friends,

 

As a first step towards bringing a shift from vote-bank to issue-based elections, VOTE Bengaluru (VB) has been working towards correcting the electoral rolls in Bangalore.

 

Ü      Recently, VB, along with several Residents’ Welfare Associations, carried out an analysis of the electoral rolls of selected polling booths in Bangalore (published on 1.1.08 and 18.02.08).

Ü      In early February 2008 itself, Vote Bengaluru submitted a memorandum to the Chief Electoral Officer-Karnataka and also to the Chief Election Commissioner, New Delhi, pointing out the fundamental errors in the electoral rolls as prepared on 1.1.08.

Ü      VB also provided a list of suggested remedies and requested them to make the necessary corrections before the rolls were published on 18.02.08.

Ü      The CEO-Karnataka concurred with the observations made by Vote Bengaluru regarding the nature of errors but expressed inability to set right the errors in the immediate future. 

Ü      The study by VB constituents has revealed that the errors in the electoral rolls are not only due to missing or bogus names, but are a result of fundamental anomalies [i.e. (1)The Part or Polling Booth Area (PBA) is not geographically unique, i.e., the same roads or portions of roads appear in different Sections of a Part or in different Parts ; (2) The Part often does not encompass a geographically contiguous area; (3) The map that accompanies the Part is neither geographically accurate nor drawn to scale.]

 

Ü      One of the analyses by an RWA states that the percentage of error is more than 50%.

 

We strongly feel that unless these fundamental errors are corrected, the voter lists are bound to be incorrect to a large extent. The errors that have been pointed out by the volunteering RWAs are not isolated, or specific to only their wards, but are generic in nature and afflict most rolls. In fact, some of these errors had been brought to the notice of the Election Commission - Karnataka way back in 2004. Since then, we have been promised corrections to the list during successive revisions, which have not happened till now. We believe that if the corrections are not done now, they will continue indefinitely.

 

When officials are questioned about why this is not done, there is all-round passing of the buck.

 

VB insists that these changes should be made and the rolls re-printed before the coming Assembly elections to Karnataka, as going in for an election while accepting that the electoral rolls are flawed is to make a mockery of democracy and reduce it to a farce.

 

 

We request you to participate in the same, bring along your friends, strengthen our hands and demonstrate your solidarity in demanding clean electoral rolls. 

 

 

Mob. 98457 62757            93437 96807              98803 97401                           99808 76440 

 

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