First we were told that we are going to have voter list with photographs, only to be told not very soon thereafter, that voters may register their names without photographs. The decision to have the voter list prepared at registration centers, where all the eligible voters were required to turn up, was changed in favour of door-to-door options where, understandably, the voters will be helped to fill in the forms. But what has complicated the matter further is the fact that it has not yet been decided by the EC whether those registered without photograph would be allowed to vote.

We admit that there is no dearth of dedication on the part of the EC to prepare a voter list that would meet all the requirements and help the holding of a free and fair election. All sorts of options are bound to be tried out and understandably various alternatives will be brought under consideration to arrive at the best possible solution. And that is just what the commission is doing, and we have no issue with that. What we cannot but take issue on is its inability to give a clear picture of how they plan to proceed. A new element appears to emerge every other day.

We are constrained to say that the EC's pace of work has been, compared with the need of the hour, rather slow over the last four months since its reconstitution and there is a perceived lack of urgency in its efforts, although its only job, we must point out, is to hold a credible election. There is no time for procrastination. All confusions must be removed in taking the job forward and a workable, foolproof and accurate voter list presented to us within a reasonable timeframe.