The Election Commission has clarified that the facility of postal ballots was not extended for railway employees in Tamil Nadu since no request was received from the Department of Railways.
Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Satyabrata Sahoo in his reply to V. Ramkumar, a railway official from Madurai, has said that the notification was issued after consultation with the organisations in the State and the State Government. “The Railway Department was also addressed in this regard and no request was received from that Department,” the CEO said.
Mr. Ramkumar had sought the intervention of the CEO after the list of Government Departments whose employees were extended the postal ballot did not include the Department of Railway in Tamil Nadu.
However, Mr. Ramkumar wondered whether the Southern Railway administration, which has its jurisdiction over Tamil Nadu and Kerala, requested for postal ballots for its employees in Kerala alone.
He pointed out that the Election Commission had included absentee voters of Railway Department for Kerala State whereas for Tamil Nadu the Railway Department was excluded.
