CHENNAI: Voter slip distribution order puts off officials

By G Saravanan

Published in The New Indian Express, Chennai, on March 19, 2011:

Link:http://expressbuzz.com/polls2011/tn/voter-slip-distribution-order-puts-off-officials/257811.html

CHENNAI: The Election Commission’s announcement to distribute voter slips (booth slips) to about 4.5 crore voters in the state by its own staff has upset the government staff who have been deployed for election work. They said that they were already overburdened with the ever-increasing quantum of election work.

Distribution of booth slips was a mammoth exercise that was practically impossible given the staff strength, they added.

For instance, in Chennai, which has 16 constituencies with about 32 lakh voters, the District Election Officer (in this case, the Chennai Corporation Commissioner) has only about 3,200 staff at his disposal.

Moreover, the voter slips would have to be distributed ahead of the polls on April 13, leaving them with a tight deadline.

The workload of the field-staff, which has already increased over the past few days, could increase further in the coming days once filing of nominations by various candidates begin. Besides the pressure of meeting deadlines, the distribution of booth slips was a physically strenuous exercise that would add to the stress levels of the staff.

According to an estimate, the Election Commission (for the city alone) would be spending lakhs of rupees to print the 32 lakh voter slips.