Government will Issue 4.38 crore Laminated Voter IDs before Upcoming 2019 Rajasthan State Assembly Elections…
The biggest state of India accommodates about 4.38 crore voters. Yes, we’re talking about Rajasthan. This massive number includes 2.07 crore men, 2.29 crore women and 1.10 lakh service voters. Service voters belong to armed forces. The Arm Act of 1950 is applicable to this category. With a number as large as this, it becomes difficult for government to conduct smooth election proceedings. Poor printing and old photographs present on voter IDs amplify identification problem in long queues. But, this won’t continue in future. On Election Commission of India (ECI)’s directions, Rajasthan election department will issue colourful, laminated voter IDs before Rajasthan state assembly elections 2019.
“Rajasthan Voter IDs must Include Colours before 2019”, says ECI.
In last three years, Rajasthan election department had issued new colourful voter IDs to 12 lakh voters. Since it wasn’t compulsory for voters to get a coloured ID, no one took an initiative to get it changed. Now, ECI has made it mandatory for users to switch to new electoral patterns. Seeing the sheer amount of voters present in state, it’ll be a Herculean challenge for state departments to achieve this goal. Nevertheless, they eventually have to replace old monochrome cards in every district, block and village.
New cards will be of the same size as that of the ATM card. These smart cards will ensure better readability and identification. The commission will add lamination to make it water and sweat-proof. The authorities will draft a proposal and send it to ECI for approval.
What are the challenges? The department will have to collect coloured photos from users or get their photos clicked on spot. Using Aadhar pictures as a reference is a good alternative to this problem. Seeing that Rajasthan’s population is 74.79 million, it’s a essential to prevent forgery during election season.
New EVMs with Printers will Be Installed Before Elections
Rather than striking off voters’ names, election officers will use printer-installed EVMs (Election Voting Machines) to confirm voting. As soon as a voter casts his vote, a slip will be generated via printer. Election officers will keep this slips for reference. At present, India uses 2006 EVM models manufactured in Bharat Electronics Limited. They had VVPET printers attached to them. ECI plans to modify the entire system will be changed before elections.
All these decisions were taken in consultation with ECI head Ashwini Bhagat. Special ware houses will be set up in Dausa, Dhaulpur, Jaisalmer, Tonk and Sringanganagar for this task. Hopefully, this would remove the shortcomings associated with existing election systems.
