Manipur makes electoral photo identity cards record of 100% coverage

IMPHAL: Manipur has recorded 100% coverage of electoral photo identity cards (EPIC) for its voters in this assembly polls. And, the percentage of photo coverage for the electoral rolls is also nearly 100%, said the Election Commission.
EC officials here said 1,32,737 new EPICs have been printed and distributed. The printing of new cards was closely monitored by senior EC officials to ensure that these reach the recipients within time after the final electoral rolls are published.
The 60-member Manipur assembly goes to the polls in two phases - March 4 and 8.
The EC has issued revised electoral rolls with more voters registering their names. As on February 20, the total number of electorate stands at 19,02,562 voters. Women voters have outnumbered men in the state. While the number of female voters is 9,73,989, the number of male voters is 9,28,573.
Of the total electorate, there are 45,642 first-time voters in the age group of 18 and 19 years. The EC has also deleted 35,704 names from the electoral rolls after it was found they are either dead or have shifted to other places.
To facilitate 11,981 service voters, the EC has launched the Electronically Transmitted Postal Ballot System (ETPBS) for the first time in the state. All service voters of two constituencies in Imphal - Yaiskul and Thangmeiband - have been covered by e-postal ballot.
Six of the assembly constituencies will be covered by the Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) machines. Altogether, 916 VVPAT machines will be used in Singjamei, Uripok, Nambol, Yaiskul, Khurai and Thoubal constituencies. The district election machinery is now carrying out awareness programmes on the use of VVPAT to acquaint the voters, candidates and political parties.
Since the announcement of the poll schedule, 10,041 licensed arms have already been deposited with the EC. The state has 20,178 licensed guns. EC officials said the deposit of licensed arms during the 2014 Lok Sabha polls was only 5.6%. In the 2012 assembly polls, it was 13.5%.
The EC has directed the state election machinery to verify all licensed arms, except for those exempted by the district-level committee. It says all arms should be deposited as per the election guidelines.