EC to delete 4.78 lakh names from voter list

B Sivakumar| TNN | Updated: Oct 21, 2017, 23:17 IST

Chennai: A total of 4.78 lakh voter names have been identified to be deleted from the electoral roll so far across Tamil Nadu, after the draft electoral roll was released earlier this month. Of this, 1.68 lakh voters are dead and the remaining have shifted their addresses. The deletions from the electoral roll will be done after December 15.

Chennai district - 1.74 lakh names - has the maximum number voters who have been identified for deletions. Nearly 1.62 lakh names in Chennai city are of those who have changed their residences. Tiruvallur district has the maximum number of dead voters whose names will be deleted from the electoral roll. There are 14,750 names of dead voters to be deleted from the rolls in Tiruvallur district.

"With regard to Chennai city, with the help of a software, we found multiple entries of same people. The software threw up names of voters who had many addresses. Based on this, we checked the addresses by doing door-to-door verification," Tamil Nadu chief electoral officer Rajesh Lakhoni told TOI.

Apart from what the software has detected, political parties in the state have also given lists with names of voters who have either died or have shifted to new places. "We also checked the lists presented by political parties and in some cases, families of people who have died have come forward to delete the dead person's name from voter list. Some voters, who have shifted their residences, have come forward on their own to change their addresses on the electoral rolls," said Lakhoni.

The voters who wish to change their addresses or delete names of dead voters can make requests till December 15. "The revised electoral rolls will be released in the first week of January," said Lakhoni.

Opposition parties, especially the DMK, have been seeking deletion of names of many voters. "We came to know that the EC has asked its officials to link Chennai voters' names with aadhaar. Similarly, across Tamil Nadu, in all assembly constituencies, voter names must be linked with aadhaar. This will prevent having dead voters' names in the electoral rolls," said DMK Rajya Sabha MP R S Bharathi.