Kerala polls: More bogus voters, 2.17 lakh and counting

Elections to seven local body wards on Jan 21

Thiruvananthapuram: Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala on Friday handed over a list of 1,63,071 more alleged bogus voters in 51 Assembly constituencies to the Election Commission, taking the number of such voters so far to 2,16,510.

Chennithala had earlier submitted the list of bogus voters in 14 constituencies. UDF workers were still trying to find if more fake voters have been included in the voters’ list.

The opposition leader said the number of bogus voters in each constituency could determine the poll outcome. The names, addresses and photographs of genuine voters have been used to include fake voters, he said, adding that the rigging of voters’ list would not have been possible without the help of officials. 

Chennithala further said that the genuine voters might be ignorant of the misuse of personal details and photographs. 

EC to make a list of bogus voters

Thiruvananthapuram: Taking cognizance of the allegations raised by the opposition, the Election Commission has decided to initiate steps to prevent bogus voting. 

Though the commission won’t be deleting the names that have been duplicated in the voters’ list, they would be allowed to cast votes only once. Political parties and the members of the public would be given a chance to point out the duplication of names.

Booth-level Officials (BLOs) would check the veracity of the complaints, and if found true, would make personal visits to find the cause of the mistake. The voter would be allotted a polling booth of his or her choice. 

The remaining duplicated names in the list would be treated as fake, and a list of such names would be provided to the polling officials. Those included in this list would not be allowed to vote.

5589 in Ponnanni, 2005 in Varkala

Few constituencies and the number of bogus voters in the list handed over to the Election Commission on Friday:

Ponnanni: 5589

Kuttiadi: 5478

Nilambur 5085

Thiruvananthapuram: 4871 

Vadakkancherry: 4862

Nadapuram: 4830

The comments posted here/below/in the given space are not on behalf of Onmanorama. The person posting the comment will be in sole ownership of its responsibility. According to the central government's IT rules, obscene or offensive statement made against a person, religion, community or nation is a punishable offense, and legal action would be taken against people who indulge in such activities.