The Kochi Niyojaka Mandalam Committee of the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) has alleged that the names of several legitimate voters in the Chakkamadom division of the Kochi Corporation had been left out of the final voters’ list.
The names of 126 people were omitted from the final list published last week, said Yunus P. A., secretary of the committee. Of these, at least 65 voters whose names were in the draft voters’ list, had been excluded without any clear reason, he said. The names were excluded from two booths in division nine, Chakkamadom, which has a little over 4,000 voters.
“The names of a few first-time voters who had registered appeared in the draft list but were not included in the final list. But their family members are on the list,” Mr. Yunus said. In one instance, seven members of a single household had been left out of the list though they had voted in the 2019 general election and the 2015 local body elections, he said. “The removal of names en masse from the final list without any prior intimation suggests it could be politically motivated. In the local body elections, victory can be determined by just a few votes. There could be supporters of different fronts among the voters left out of the list,” he said.
The committee has written to the Chief Electoral Officer and the District Collector, asking for the right to vote to be restored at least to the legitimate voters who have been excluded from the final list.
