SMS service to be launched in Chennai to check names in Electoral rolls

The Chennai Corporation will soon launch a short messaging service (SMS) using which the residents could check if their names have been included in the electoral rolls.

Senior officials of the civic body said that voters could text message their EPIC (Elector's Photo Identity Card) number and they would get a reply SMS if their names are on the list or not. The mobile number and prescribed format for sending the text message are being worked out.

Kannel, an open source WAP and SMS gateway, which is used to send many text messages, is being currently tested. The civic body also upgraded its server recently.

The city has a total of 27,62,920 voters of which 13,85,789 are males and 13,77,122 females. The Corporation is currently conducting a 100 per cent verification of voters and 4,36,317 new voters have been listed. There have been a total of 3,01,214 deletions too. By July, the draft electoral rolls are expected to be published.