Voters without ID card will not be allowed to cast votes

The electorates of Chhattisgarh may not be able to cast their votes without a Photo Identity Card (PIC) in the Assembly polls likely to be held in November. "It will be difficult for any one to vote in the coming Assembly election without any Photo Identity Card," Election Commission (EC) sources told a news agency in Raipur. After officially starting its election process for formation of the next government in Chhattisgarh on or before on 6th December 2008, the EC has also issued several instructions to the state. Among the instructions of the Commission are ban in transfer of all officials, including the district collectors, who are engaged in election related works in the state. The Commission had also asked the state government to separate day to day works of the government from the Chief Electoral Officer and Joint Chief Electoral Officer of the state, because of which the Food and Cooperative Departments work had been withdrawn from Alok Shukla and Gaurav Dwivedi respectively, they said. Talking about the Identity Cards, the Commission sources said, since it would be difficult for the electors to vote without any PIC, a massive campaign was going on to complete the process. "Currently we have completed over 60 per cent of the photo identity card and works to complete the rest are in full swing, for which the Commission had adopted several measures," the Commission sources said. The Commission sources said they had decided to take photographs also for the PIC and the Photo Electoral Rolls. "In many places, especially in urban pockets, the voters cannot wait for a longer period in any booth for having photographed due to their works. Hence the Commission had also decided to accept passport size photographs against their names," the sources said. After receiving the photographs by the Commission officials, that would be scanned and pasted in the photo electoral rolls also, they said. From 15th July, the draft electoral rolls had been published in all the 90 assembly segments and up to the end of this month the objection to any name or for inclusion of any names can be submitted. The Electoral Registration Officers would check all those applications from 1st to 15 August and the Commission would take another 15 days to publish the final Photo Electoral Rolls, they said. On 30th August the Photo Electoral Roll would be published and on the basis of that election would be held for the state assembly polls.

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