SMS as a Tool to Find out Polling Booth - Short Code 5676729

IT is not apathy but cluelessness about the location of polling stations that is, in many cases, the cause of low voter turnout. Often the eager voter sets out to play his part in the democratic process but ends up returning home in a huff, having wasted precious time trying to find the polling booth and finally giving up in exasperation. This is going to be history in the seven Assembly segments of the Secunderabad Lok Sabha constituency as voters can now easily locate the polling booths in a matter of seconds through mobile solutions by just sending either an SMS message or through Internet. This unique mobile solution concept has been developed by Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) Metropolitan Commissioner KS Jawahar Reddy who is also the Returning Officer for the Secunderabad Lok Sabha constituency. The proposal will be submitted to Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) IV Subba Rao for approval. Once it is approved, it will be introduced in the Secunderabad Lok Sabha election to be held on April 16. What is more important is that this is the first time in the state that general elections are being held after delimitation and voters would find difficulty in locating the polling booths. Explaining about its functioning, Jawahar Reddy said that there was a complete data base of Secunderabad Lok Sabha fed with them that includes names of the persons with all Electoral Photo Identity Cards (EPICs) with numbers, house addresses and polling stations and other relevant information. A voter who wanted to know the exact location of the polling station, has to just send an SMS by typing a short code (will be announced in a few days) and number 5676729 along with EPIC card number. Within a few seconds, the voter will receive a message with detailed address of the polling station. Those who do not have the EPIC card, the other alternative is to type their house number. They are also planning to host similar service through Internet. A new website is being created for this purpose. A private software company , Gray Logic, is providing mobile solutions to them.