It looks like the residents of the city have to pull up their socks soon, as Chennai has the highest percentage of voters without a photograph on the electoral rolls in the State.
With the June 30 deadline set by the Election Commission to complete work on photo electoral rolls fast approaching, the Chennai District Electoral Registration Office has planned to issue a notice to 62,274 voters who are yet to submit photographs for inclusion on electoral rolls in 16 Assembly constituencies.
These voters constitute over one per cent of the total number of 34.28 lakh voters in 16 constituencies of Chennai District.
Election Commission officials attribute this to various reasons, including the absence of residents during physical verification.
The names of voters who have failed to submit photographs or those who are reluctant to get photographed in the appropriate manner may be deleted, according to the provisions of the Representation of the People Act and the Registration of Electors Rules.
In Chennai, booth-level officers of the Assembly constituencies including Dr. Radhakrishnan Nagar, Perambur, Kolathur, Villivakkam, Thiru-Vi-Ka Nagar, Egmore and others, will make an effort on Monday to include voters whose photos are not on the electoral rolls as yet.
Passport-size photos submitted by voters after they receive the notice will be scanned by the Electoral Registration Office for inclusion. The Electors' Photo Identity Card (EPIC) operator will also capture digital photographs of voters in localities where there are relatively large numbers of voters without photographs on the rolls. The photos can also be captured from any group photo of the voter.
If voters are reluctant to submit their photographs, deletion of the voter's name is likely to be initiated. Tamil Nadu is one of the states with very high EPIC coverage.
