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Polling process becomes more credible

T. Ramakrishnan

Tamil Nadu electoral roll database migrates to RDBMS-MS SQL Server

— FILE PHOTO: D. GOPALAKRISHNAN

Bogus voting can be prevented through this interface.

CHENNAI: In many areas of governance, the application of information technology is not apparent, though it has made a huge difference. Electoral administration is one such area where information technology has come in handy for those who conduct and oversee elections. And it has lent greater credibility to the process.

It is against this backdrop that one has to view Tamil Nadu Chief Electoral Officer Naresh Gupta’s recent announcement on the completion of the migration of the State’s electoral roll database from MS Access to a high-end Relational Database Management System (RDBMS)-MS SQL Server. The database contains details of 4.13 crore electors with their images. Taken up after the Lok Sabha elections in May this year, the task is a prelude to centralisation of the electoral rolls database in the server of the CEO’s office initially and that of the Election Commission of India eventually.

Search across constituencies

In 1997, when the computerisation of the rolls was taken up, the database was maintained in MS Access. The recent migration to the RDBMS (MS SQL Server) will improve search capabilities and analytical processes. For example, this will facilitate faster search of an elector’s name across parts of the rolls or constituencies in and across the districts. Hitherto, the search for multiple entries was restricted to an Assembly constituency or a district.

Furthermore, the consolidation of all the details into a central database at the State level in a format that is uniform across all the States will facilitate intra- and inter-State linkages and operations.

In Tamil Nadu, an SMS-based system of monitoring elections was put in place for the first time when the by-elections to five Assembly constituencies were held in August this year. Information on the number of voters who cast their ballots would be sent via text messages every hour beginning 8 a.m. till 3 p.m., and thereafter every half-an-hour till the end of the polling. The information is directly loaded in the central server in the CEO’s office and hourly reports generated for the whole State.

This would help to prevent political parties or candidates organising large-scale bogus voting since the exact number of votes polled during a given period would be known. In the Lok Sabha elections in May, the authorities carried out live recording of the polling in some booths in Madurai, Chennai and Kanyakumari districts.

Fidelity of rolls

Another major technology intervention being undertaken by the State Public (Elections) Department is the use of Geographical Information System (GIS) for re-organising the parts and sections of the electoral rolls, and the location of polling booths. This is meant to improve the fidelity of the rolls and ensure clear and disaggregated demarcation of the polling station’s catchment area and scientific location.

This project was piloted in Tiruvallur district last year by the Department of Geology of Bharathidasan University, Tiruchi. Now a full-fledged project is under way in the remaining districts for mapping of the location of polling stations, all important roads, rail track, rivers, canals, major water bodies and important public buildings. The project is nearing completion, according to Mr Gupta.

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