Freshly enlisted voters to get new plastic voter cards with invisible ID number

Kolkata: New voters, who are registering their names for the first time, will be provided with a new smart looking PVC card. This card, which is being introduced for the first time in the state by the Election Commission, will contain the voters' information along with an invisible ten digit standard identification number imprinted on the barcode of the card.

"We have started the process of addition, deletion and modification of the voters' list from December 16 and the exercise will continue till January 15. The commission is expected to release the first draft of the voters' list on February 7. The new voters who have been registered in this first draft will be provided with this new voter ID card," a senior official of the Election Commission said. The old black and white voter ID card, meanwhile, will be equally valid.

According to Election Commission officials, the W series 16 digit identification number will be replaced with a standard 10 digit identification number in the new voter ID card. However, the 16 digit number printed on the old black and white voter ID cards will also be valid. "The new card is more secure as it has an invisible number that can be deciphered only by commission officials. In the old voter card there is a hologram to identify the authenticity of the card," the official added. The cards are made of synthetic plastic polymer and so they will naturally be unbreakable and waterproof.

The process of making the card has already started in Maharashtra, Gujarat, Bihar, Odisha, Assam and Arunachal Pradesh. A senior official in the Election Commission of India said that in the long run, the commission wants to replace all voter ID cards with the new one but the process will take time. Meanwhile, all the existing cards will remain valid until they are replaced with a new one.