EC plans photo electoral rolls in 2009 general polls: Chawla

Puducherry, Mar 18 (UNI) Stating that the Election Commission of India was working on the preparation of photo electoral rolls, Election Commissioner Naveen B Chawla, expressed the hope that the country could use the rolls in the 2009 general elections.

Talking to newspersons here today, he said he had talks with some political party leaders here and reviewed the assembly election process in the Union Territory with the officials here yesterday.

Puducherry and Kerala had achived a coverage of about 97 per cent photo electoral rolls (PER) and almost 100 per cent electoral photo identity cards (EPIC) in the last assembly election and the states were in the forefront, he added.

Tamil Nadu had a coverage of 85 per cent in the PER and 73 per cent in EPIC in the last assembly elections and hopefully, it would reach 100 per cent by the next general elections, he added.

Mr Chawla said on reviewing the assemby elections in Puducherry there were many lessons learnt, which could be taken to the entire country. The Election Commission had taken steps for the conduct of assembly elections in UP, comprising 403 constituencies and 110,000 polling stations, he added.

He said the State was divided into 17 administrative divisions and the elections would be held in seven phases. 98 per cent of each polling booth would be covered by para-military staffs and digital cameras and video camers would be installed in every booths, he added.

The Election Commission was intending to reduce the size of EPIC to make it holder-friendly in the country, he said adding that it would be in the size of a driving licence, so that it could be kept inside a purse or pocket.

Puduchery Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Kumarasamy, who was also present said the final voters list for Yanam constituency would be released on April 2.

Mr Kumarasamy said during the revision of the voters list the election authorities received 8000 odd-applications for inclusions and on varification it was found that many of the the applications were from people residing in adjoining Andhra Pradesh. The varifications were under progress, he added.

UNI