Chief Electoral Officer Satyabrata Sahoo chaired a meeting with nine recognised political parties in the Secretariat on Tuesday, ahead of the scheduled release of draft electoral rolls on November 16.
Representatives from regional parties like the AIADMK and the DMK, and national parties, including the BJP, the Congress, the Left parties and the NCP, took part in the meeting.
Assembly Deputy Speaker Pollachi V. Jayaraman said the Election Commission should speed up the inclusion of new voters in the rolls. Senior DMK leader and Rajya Sabha MP R.S. Bharathi said the EC should not go by the details provided by parties but should update the rolls after due verification. He said his party had sought clarification on the documents to be submitted for deletion of names from the rolls.
Former MLA and DMDK member B. Parthasarathy said the party had reiterated to the Election Commission that a final electoral roll, after carrying out the deletions, should be made available.
“We have also urged the Election Commission to ensure that voters aged over 65 be given the option to cast their votes via post to safeguard them from COVID-19,” he said.
