Agartala: The Tripura electoral authority on Friday published the final electoral rolls for the forthcoming Assembly elections including voters from the third gender for the first time.

The final rolls registered a 2.52 per cent rise over the draft voter list.

At a news conference at the state secretariat in the evening, chief electoral officer Sriram Taranikanti said the final rolls were published after looking into all claims and objections filed from different quarters. The final voter list has got 25.69 lakh voters with 49.27 per cent female voters.

Among these, 47,800 voters were added in the age group of 18-19 years. The final publication was made in all designated locations, including 3,214 polling stations, tehsil offices and electoral registration offices in the morning.

Speaking about steps taken for added security during the polls, Taranikanti said electronic postal ballots would be used for nearly 14,000 government employees. The postal ballot papers would be electronically sent to their respective duty stations. They would download the documents, mark beside their chosen candidates' names and send them back via post, he said.

The step was taken to increase privacy and security of postal ballot papers.

During the special summary revision held in the run-up to the Assembly polls, the Election Commission deleted 34,845 names of voters. These include 28,000 dead and fake voters.

However, 98,064 names were added in the electoral rolls as well. These include new voters and cases of change of address.

The state election authority has ensured 100 per cent coverage of photo electoral rolls, Taranikanti said. He added that proper security would be in place to ensure free and fair polls in the state.