ELECTORAL ROLL PREPARATION: Chief Electoral Officer Naresh Gupta, at a meeting with district collectors in Coimbatore on Tuesday. — PHOTO: S. SIVA SARAVANAN

Coimbatore: Draft photo electoral rolls in Tamil Nadu is expected to be published by mid-October and the final list by January 2007, Chief Electoral Officer Naresh Gupta said here on Tuesday.

Mr. Gupta was talking to presspersons after reviewing electoral roll preparation work with Collectors of districts in the region besides those from Tiruvarur, Thanjavur, Madurai and Karur. He said the entire process of revision and review was being done again due to change of Collectors in a number of districts.

The process for publishing the rolls by mid-October was on. Since it was cumbersome and time-consuming, the immediate step would be printing of checklists to accommodate all voters as per the rolls, he said. The next stage would be door-to-door verification and capturing images from existing CDs and miniature sheets. About 75 per cent of the 4.67 crore electorate was covered under the Electoral Photo Identity Card (EPIC) programme, Mr. Gupta said.

The electorate database had been updated and images taken from CDs and miniature sheets. If the photographs were not clear or if wrong photographs were found against voter's names, fresh ones would be taken, he said.

Three different methods were being adopted for image capturing: providing passport size photographs by electors in urban areas, taking digital cameras door-to-door as was mainly done in rural areas and setting up designated photographic locations, Mr. Gupta said. The checklist would be verified door-to-door twice or thrice to ensure the rolls were accurate at least by 90 to 95 per cent, he said.

When asked about by-election to the Madurai Central Assembly constituency due to vacancy caused by the death of P.T.R. Palanivelarajan, he said the issue in addition to preparedness of the poll machinery was discussed with the Madurai Collector. However, the dates would have to be announced by the Election Commission.

On the charge that some officials had polled mass votes in the May Assembly elections, he said based on a complaint, the Commission had initiated action. Anyone found guilty would be punished.

To a question on petitions filed by different candidates challenging the election of some MLAs and seeking to nullify their elections, he said the issue was to be decided by the High Court. This, however, would not affect the local body polls due in a couple of months, he said.

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