The Election Commission has allowed voters to produce any one of the 11 other recognised documents to prove their identity while going for voting in the absence of voter identity card on Thursday at the polling booths in the seven lok Sabha constituencies in Chhattisgarh, an official statement said here on Wednesday.
The documents include passport, driving license, service identity card with photograph issued to employees by Central, State Government, public sector undertakings, public limited companies, passbooks with photograph issued by a bank or post office.
The voters can also use PAN card, Aadhaar card, Smart Card issued by Registrar General of India(RGI) under National Population Register Pension order with photo, Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA) Job Card Health Insurance Smart Card issued under the Scheme of Union Ministry of labour and voter photo slip issued by the Election Commission.
The citizens can use any of the 11 alternatives as proof of Indian citizenship in order to cast their vote, provided their name is in the electoral roll, it said. The Election Commission has issued necessary instruction to the Chief Electoral Officers (CEOs) of all the states and union territories. It has directed them to ensure that nobody is deprived of voting on the ground that he or she does not have the Elector’s Photo Identity Card (EPIC). They should be allowed to exercise their franchise on the basis of any of the alternatives provided their names are in the electoral roll.
The Election Commission in its circular said although the Elector’s Photo Identity Cards (EPIC) have been issued to more than 97 per cent of the registered voters, the alternatives have been provided to ensure that those who have not yet gotten it or have misplaced or lost it can also exercise their franchise.
More than 99 per cent of the registered voters in Chhattisgarh are having Elector’s Photo Identity Cards (EPIC), it said. The Commission has also directed the CEOs to ensure that no voter is deprived of balloting on the ground that the EPIC card it held has some spelling and other minor errors.