Thaindian News

Thiruvananthapuram, March 2 (IANS) Non-resident Keralities (NRK) who want to cast their votes in the upcoming assembly elections April 13 will have to get their names enrolled in the state’s voters list before the third week of March, the state’s chief electoral officer said Wednesday.

Addressing reporters here, Nalini Netto said there were two ways in which NRKs can register.

“Either they can get a copy of their passport attested from the respective Indian embassies where they are residing now and send it to the concerned official handling the voters list in their constituency or they can personally go to the official with the original passport and the visa documents and get themselves enrolled,” she said.

There are more than two million NRKs, of whom close to 80 percent are working in countries in the Middle East.

Indian nationals among 25 million diaspora in 130 countries will be able to exercise their franchise as non-residents for the first time ever when four states and a union territory go to polls in April and May.

For that, however, they must be registered in the electoral rolls of their respective constituencies and be physically present to cast their votes, according to the country’s Election Commission.

“So far, only very few NRKs have registered and we urge all of them to hurry up and this is possible till the third week of March,” said Netto.

She also added that all electors can log on to the website www.ceo.kerala.gov.in and find out if their name appears on the voters list.

“This time we will be handing over the election slip to each voter,” she added.

Poll results will be out May 13.