EC to use photo electoral rolls for 2009 general elections: CEC

Mumbai, Dec 30 (UNI) Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) N Gopalaswamy today said the Election Commission of India (ECI) will use photo electoral rolls for the 2009 General Elections in all the states.

Talking to reporters here after inaugurating an integrated variable data digital printing system, imported from the United States, Mr Gopalaswamy said the ECI was in the process of assessing the current level of work regarding photo voter identity cards in different parts of the country.

He said in Kerala and Pondicherry the work of providing photo identity cards has been completed, while in Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Rajasthan it will be completed soon. In Maharashtra, about 80 per cent of the work has been completed, he added.

The CEC said the photo electoral rolls would be published in those states where the work of providing identity cards has been completed about 80 per cent.

He said taking photographs of voters began in 1995 and the images had been stored. At some places, pictures had been retrieved and converted into PDF files to enable coloured photo electoral rolls.

He recalled that the implementation of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) took 27 years after it was originally conceived to save paper as well as time for counting of the votes. EVMs were finally used all over India from the 2004 elections after overcoming legal hurdles and an amendment to the existing laws.

Mr Gopalaswamy said the new printing technology, imported by Vakrangee Software Limited (VSL), was of high speed and good quality.

The US made Kodak Versamark VT3000 printing system, with a speed of 2,180 impressions per minute, is the fastest in the world. It is the first of its kind in the entire Asian region. The new digital variable data printing system is capable of producing data in black, spot colour or process colour, Dinesh Nandwana, Chairman and Managing Director of VSL said.

VSL is a lead player in e-governance and election-related documentation, he said, adding, his company had imported the system on pilot project at an estimated cost of Rs 15 crore and the same would be used in Maharashtra, Gujarat and Goa circle whenever elections are announced.

At present, the election process from the date of announcement to the actual polling date takes about 60 days and the preparation of the electoral rolls through conventional printing method takes the maximum time in the entire process. VSL's new high speed printing facility would cut down this time by almost 50 per cent, besides ensuring timely delivery of such stationeries.

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