As Telangana gears up for early Assembly election, EC says final voter list will be published on 8 October

Hyderabad: Stepping up preparations for the conduct of Assembly elections in Telangana, the Election Commission of India (EC) on Saturday announced that the final voter list will be published on 8 October. The poll panel suspended the ongoing process of revision of electoral rolls in the wake of premature dissolution of the state Assembly and declared a new schedule for revision. Telangana’s Chief Electoral Officer Rajat Kumar said under the new schedule, integrated draft electoral roll will be published on 10 September. [caption id=“attachment_4239073” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. Reuters[/caption] Claims and objections can be filed from 10 September to 25 September while disposal of claims and objections will be taken up on 4 October. Updating database and printing of supplement will be completed before 7 October. 8 October will be the date for final publication of the electoral roll, which means elections may be held any time after this date. As per the schedule announced earlier, all new voters who will complete the age of 18 on 1 January, 2019, would be eligible to submit applications to include their names in the voter list. Under the second special summary revision announced on Saturday, those who completed the age of 18 on 1 January, 2018 can still submit their requests for inclusion of their names. Telangana chief minister K Chandrashekhar Rao dissolved state Assembly on Thursday, nearly nine months before its term was to end, to clear the way for early elections. The EC has indicated that the polls in Telangana could be held at the year-end along with four other states where elections are due. The poll panel on Friday announced that it will send a team to Telangana on 11 September to study the poll preparedness of state machinery.