New voters may play a decisive role in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections in Tamil Nadu, with the State's electoral rolls increasing by 44 lakh since the 2011 elections.
The 44 lakh figure representing the net addition of voters accounts for over 10% of all voters, according to Chief Electoral Officer Praveen Kumar. Of the 44 lakh, those in the 18-19 age group are about 16.7 lakh. Some 10 lakh voters in the 18-19 age group are still to be enrolled, but the CEO says, overall, Tamil Nadu's performance in this area has been good, having enrolled 50% of all voters in that age group.
In the last two years, the names of around 13.5 lakh voters have been deleted from the rolls on account of reasons such as death. Since the publication of final rolls on January 10 this year, about two lakh electors have been included, of whom around 20,000 sent their applications online.
As part of its efforts to improve online enrolment, the State Elections Department has framed a scheme under which private internet browsing centres have signed pacts with district collectors/district election officers.
So far, around 1,000 such centres have been roped in. A fee of Rs. 10 has been prescribed for the submission of each application. Besides, the CEO has appealed to political parties to nominate booth level agents (BLA). The State has a total of 60,418 booths.
