Nagaland voters to use EPIC for first time in LS polls: CEO

KOHIMA: Voters in Nagaland will be using the Elector's Photo Identity Card ( EPIC) for the first time in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

Addressing a news conference here today, Nagaland Chief Election Officer (CEO), Sentiyanger, said that as per the Election Commission ( EC) announcement, voting for the lone Lok Sabha seat in the state would be held on April 9.

In keeping with the orders of EC, the state would see voters using EPIC for the first time for the upcoming polls, he said.

As per the qualifying date set by EC, Nagaland at present has 11,74,663 electors, of which 5,94,572 are male and 5,80,091 female voters.

However, till date election officials have collected photos of 11.61 lakh voters, he said.

Despite repeated notifications, the remaining electors have failed to come forward to submit their photos, said Sentiyanger, adding that the photo ID cards would be issued in a phased manner starting with Dimapur, Kohima and Tening.

He revealed that there has been a decrease in the number of voters in the state as compared to the state elections of 2013 and the 2009 Lok Sabha polls.

Following the summary revision with January 1, 2014, as the qualifying date, the names of a total of 21,480 voters have been deleted from the existing list, he said. The names of electors who were registered in two places had been removed.

On the other hand, as compared to the 2009 general elections, which had 13,17,729 voters, the voters' list for the upcoming polls would have 1,43,066 electors less.

The notification for the vote in the state would be issued by March 15 while the last date for filing nominations is March 22, he said. Scrutiny would be conducted on March 24 with the last date for withdrawing candidature being March 26.

Counting for the general elections will take place on May 16 for the election process which should be completed before May 28, he added.