Govt to persuade states to adopt ECI electoral roll for local body polls: Law Min

"In a meeting taken by the Cabinet Secretary on the issue recently, the representative of the Election Commission of India (ECI) informed that a few State Election Commissions are already using the Electoral Roll prepared by the ECI for their Local Body elections.

A decision has been taken by the government to persuade states to adopt the electoral rolls prepared by the Election Commission of India for their local body elections, the Centre informed Parliament on Monday. In a written reply in the Lok Sabha, Law and Justice Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said there is no proposal to amend the Representation of People's Act to pave the way for a single voter list for the whole country and simultaneous polls of all the elected bodies in the country. "In a meeting taken by the Cabinet Secretary on the issue recently, the representative of the Election Commission of India (ECI) informed that a few State Election Commissions are already using the Electoral Roll prepared by the ECI for their Local Body elections. "A decision was taken to persuade the remaining States to co-opt the Electoral Roll prepared by the ECI for their Local Body elections on the grounds of national interest in saving time, effort and expenditure, reducing duplication of work and confusion amongst voters," he said.