The Election Commission of India (ECI) has appointed 10 IAS officers as Electoral Roll Observers in Tamil Nadu. This is the first time electoral roll observers are being appointed in the country, according to a report in the Times of India.

The role of these observers will be to supervise the authentication of the electoral roll across the state. Each of the 10 officers will be in charge of a few districts, where they will oversee the electoral roll verification process.

The 10 IAS officers, who have been appointed as observers, are: N Karunakaran, the Director of Handlooms and Textiles; S Natarajan, the CEO of Tamil Nadu Khadi and Village Industries Board; Sajansingh R Chavan, the Managing Director of Tamil Nadu Adi Dravidar Housing and Development Corporation Limited (TAHDCO); A Gnanasekaran, Director, Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Sciences; C Samayamoorthy, Transport Commissioner; Jothi Nirmalsamy, IG-Registrations; M Vijayakumar, Managing Director of ELCOT (Electronics Corporation of Tamil Nadu); S Sivashanmugaraja, the Managing Director of Tamil Nadu Newsprint and Papers Limited (TNPL); TP Rajesh, Additional Commissioner of Industries; and V Sampath, the CEO of Tamil Nadu Maritime Board.

The authentication process involves the voters checking their name, address, photographs and other such particulars on the electoral roll and self-verifying it. The authentication can be done online, via mobile app, and at taluk offices, e-seva centres and special camps.

According to Chief Electoral Officer Satyabrata Sahoo on Tamil Nadu, of the 5.99 crore voters in Tamil Nadu, 1.64 crore voters have applied for authentication of their details on the electoral roll. He said that since the authentication process has been made simpler through mobile phones and the internet, the ECI is expecting more people to verify their existing details within the given deadline.

The process of authentication will go on till November 18 and the draft electoral roll will be published on November 25.

If the voters need to change any of the particulars, they can apply through the designated forms and the Election Commission will incorporate the new details and issue a new voter identity card.