SHILLONG: The State Election Department has kick-started preparations to ensure smooth conduct of the Lok Sabha elections, despite the fact that dates for the elections are far from being declared.
Chief Electoral Officer P Naik informed that the process of summary revision of electoral rolls would begin from the second week of September and this time too, the department is concentrating its efforts to attract more number of youths in the electoral process.
Anticipating that elections to the two parliamentary seats in the State would be held in the first phase of the Lok Sabha polls, Naik said that his department would publish the final list of electoral rolls by the first week of January.
“We would try to ensure authenticity of the electoral rolls as far as possible,” Naik asserted.
He also pointed out that his department has already launched the second phase of the Systematic Voters’ Education and Electoral Participation, to ensure maximum participation of the target group (youth) in the poll process.
Reacting to a query on the complaints against faulty Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) in the last State Assembly election in February, Naik pointed out that the State Government has already placed a request before the Election Commission of India (ECI) to sanction new EVMs for the upcoming elections.
Naik also said that his department would continuously monitor the situation in the insurgency-hit Garo Hills areas to ensure smooth and peaceful elections.