Thiruvananthapuram: With just four days left for the first phase of elections to the local self-government bodies in Kerala, the State Election Commission has begun the process of distributing photo identity cards to new voters. In all 1.72 lakh new voters have been enrolled and it will be an uphill task to hand over identity cards within the stipulated time.

The identity cards have the size of an ATM card. It features the voter's name, father's name, address, house number, gender, age and photo. On the back, the name of the district, civic body, ward; name and number of polling stations; and the signature of the Electoral Registration Officer (ERO) are featured.

The serial number on the voters' list and the unique ID number would be displayed prominently on both sides of the card.

This is the first time that the State Election Commission is distributing identity cards.

It was only a couple of days ago the EROs were directed to prepare and distribute the ID cards taking details from the voters' list given on the Election Commission's website. 

With each local body having 100 to 4,000 new voters, the EROs have to race against time to provide the cards. They intend to distribute the cards with the assistance of anganwadi workers.

The first phase of polling in five districts of the state is on December 8. It will be followed by voting on December 10 in another five districts. In the last round, the remaining four districts go to the polls.