Kerala SEC under fire for voter list errors ahead of local body elections
With just months to go before local body polls, the Congress has threatened to approach the courts if swift corrective action is not taken.
With just months to go before local body polls, the Congress has threatened to approach the courts if swift corrective action is not taken.
With just months to go before local body polls, the Congress has threatened to approach the courts if swift corrective action is not taken.
Thiruvananthapuram: Serious errors in the draft voters’ list for the upcoming local body elections have triggered widespread concern. The State Election Commission (SEC), now facing criticism over its handling of voter records and ward boundaries, has begun urgent steps to correct the mistakes.
Major discrepancies in the voter rolls, including the exclusion of genuine voters and the inclusion of deceased individuals, were pointed out by Congress. Realising that asking voters to correct such errors could cause legal complications and public anger, the SEC has taken on the task of making changes on its initiative.
With just months to go before local body polls, Congress has threatened to approach the courts if swift corrective action is not taken. The party is already preparing a dossier of evidence showing systemic issues in the electoral process, with allegations of voter suppression and flawed ward reorganisation.
Q-Field app under scrutiny
The Q-Field app, which is used to map ward boundaries for the reorganisation process, is at the centre of the controversy. While boundaries were drawn using data from field surveys, the maps generated lacked house-level detail, making it difficult for voters to identify their correct wards.
The SEC has admitted before the High Court that technical faults in the app were responsible for issues in the delimitation of wards, notably in Chalakkudy municipality. Although the final notification of restructured wards was issued in May, complaints have continued, indicating widespread dissatisfaction. Public hearings at both district and local levels, as well as those chaired by inquiry officers and district collectors, have so far failed to stem the flow of grievances.
Mapping glitch in Chalakudy
The High Court recently closed a case filed by former Chalakudy councillor Jio Kizhakkumthala, after the Delimitation Commission admitted to an error in the reorganisation of Ward 16. Jio had lodged a complaint last November but received no response, prompting him to seek legal intervention.
On June 24, the municipal secretary informed the court that a report from the Divisional Forest Officer, also acting as the returning officer, had confirmed a mismatch in boundaries. The error occurred during mapping via the Q-Field app and resulted in 61 houses from Ward 16 being incorrectly assigned to adjacent wards.
On 5 July, the court was told that the SEC had authorised the municipality to reopen the app and make corrections. A revised digital map was then published. Satisfied with the correction, Justice CS Dias closed the petition, stating that the grievance had been addressed.