Move to identify multiple voters hit as ECI removes EPIC numbers from list for Kerala local body polls
There are also allegations that malpractices are taking place in the process of removing voters from the list.
There are also allegations that malpractices are taking place in the process of removing voters from the list.
There are also allegations that malpractices are taking place in the process of removing voters from the list.
Thiruvananthapuram: Efforts by opposition parties to remove double votes have suffered a setback after the Election Commission of India (ECI) deleted electoral photo identity card numbers (EPIC numbers) from the voters’ list for the upcoming local body elections in Kerala.
Earlier, the parties had found several instances where the same person was included as a voter in several wards of a local body and as a voter in different booths of a ward, using a single EPIC number. A search conducted by the Congress under its ‘Mission 2025’ had noticed that such cases were widespread in the voters’ list for the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation. The services on the State Election Commission’s portal for updating the voters’ list suddenly stopped while the follow-up measures in this regard were taking place.
A week later, the services in the portal resumed, and the facility to enrol voters became available. However, the authorities had removed all EPIC numbers from the voters’ list without any warning, and instead, all voters were given a unique identification number. The unique number had the letters ‘SEC’ in the English alphabet, followed by nine digits.
Interestingly, even though the portal displayed a search bar with EPIC numbers, the service was unavailable.
Opposition political leaders said that the lack of a facility to search for a voter in the voters’ list of a state or local body on the Election Commission’s portal based on the EPIC number was suspicious.
SEC fails to act on its own
It has been alleged that the State Election Commission (SEC) has made no efforts to identify and remove multiple voters from the voters’ list. At the same time, several Electoral Registration Officers in Kerala have attempted to undertake this task independently. In one such case, over 400 votes were deleted in a municipality in central Kerala within two weeks. But this exercise was not taken up in local bodies.
There are also allegations that malpractices are taking place in the process of removing voters from the list. Currently, notices are being sent only to the petitioner and the voter who attests the application to remove a voter from the list, which is submitted in Form 5. As per the law, a notice should also be sent to the voter whose name is supposed to be deleted. “This is not being done now,” said an opposition party leader.