EC to publish final electoral roll for Assam in January

With around 6 lakh first time voters set to exercise their franchise in Assam, the Election Commission has announced that the final electoral roll for the upcoming Assembly polls will be published in January next year.
"The final electoral roll will be published on January 11, 2016. Those who will be left out in the list or find errors can correct the names during the continued upgrade process," Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Nasim Zaidi said at a press conference here.
The Election Commission of India (ECI) will upload the final roll on its website and will also make it available to the political parties for pointing out any errors.

"When we published the draft electoral roll in October this year, we had 1.92 crore voters in Assam. In the summary review meeting now, a list of 3.25 lakh new voters have come up. We continuously upgrade the roll as we try to address the gap between census list and electoral roll," Zaidi said.
The electoral roll for the state will contain names of 6 lakh people of 18-19 years of age, who will cast their votes for the fist time, he added.
Zaidi, who was in the city with the full bench of ECI to review the preparedness of the state for the Assembly polls, said special emphasis will be given on electoral photo identity cards, which are issued to 97 per cent of the total voters at present.

"By and large, we are satisfied with the summary review. The term of the current Assembly expires on June 5, 2016, so we must have a new Assembly before that. All political parties have demanded to hold the polls before the Bihu festival in April," he added.

The ECI team, which met representatives of all political parties, senior state government officials, state election officials, DCs and SPs in the last two days, will soon deliberate on the exact dates and phases of the Assembly polls, Zaidi said.
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"We have taken note of their suggestions. We will put in place an effective mechanism to have free and fair polls. A greater emphasis will be on error-free roll," the CEC said.

Talking about the law and order issue, he said the district administrations and SPs have been asked to have mapping of all the vulnerable places and a strict watch must be maintained.
"We have asked them to keep a track of all the happenings so that we have a conducive atmosphere in the run up to the polls. We will try to have maximum number of central forces and will use them in area domination. They will also be engaged in confidence building exercise," the CEC said.
He also said the ECI will not tolerate lack of impartiality from any official and the organisation will work with the motto 'No Voter Is Left Behind'.

Regarding 'hate speeches', the CEC said the Commission will strictly adhere to the laid down procedure.
Asked about possibility of synchronisation of National Register of Citizens (NRC) with electoral roll, Zaidi said, "NRC is an independent process being implemented under the guidance of the Supreme Court. As and when it is complete, we will look into it."
He also declined to give specific comment on 'D' (doubtful) voters saying the cases are being tried by the Foreigners Tribunal.
The ECI will work towards providing basic facilities, including ramps for disabled persons, minimum sanitation structure, drinking water and electrification, at the 25,000-odd polling stations for a pleasant experience of the voters.

"We will also set up more than 200 model polling stations and these will have a festive look to attract more voters. We have instructed the state election commission to ensure maximum participation so that voting should be more than 80 per cent," the CEC said.
He informed that the ECI will launch three IT-based initiatives -- SUVIDHA, SAMADHAN and SUGAM -- for speedy action on various areas.
While SUVIDHA will give permissions to political parties within 24 hours to hold rallies and meetings, SAMADHAN will address the voters' complaints on urgent basis.
"The election process also requires huge number of vehicles. To address the problems in hiring, maintaining a log book and payments, we will have SUGAM," Zaidi said.