38,586 multiple entries detected, EC tells HC

‘Physical verification will be conducted by BLOs’

March 30, 2021 07:55 pm | Updated March 31, 2021 01:04 am IST - KOCHI

 An election awareness campaign as part of the Systematic Voters Education and Electoral Participation programme in Thrissur on Tuesday.

An election awareness campaign as part of the Systematic Voters Education and Electoral Participation programme in Thrissur on Tuesday.

The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Tuesday informed the Kerala High Court that the ECI had been able to identify only 38,586 demographically similar entries (DSEs) from 3,16,671 entries in the electoral rolls in the State after an intensive analysis of the data provided by the political parties regarding the multiple entries in the electoral roll.

The ECI submitted that in respect of each 38,586 DSEs, physical verification would be conducted by the booth level officers (BLOs) and it would be marked in the ASD (Absentees, Shifted and Dead) list to be prepared by the BLO and such list would be furnished to the presiding offices along with the voters’ list to avert bogus voting.

The submission was made by the counsel for the ECI when a writ petition filed by Leader of the Opposition Ramesh Chennithala seeking to delete or freeze the multiple entries of names in the electoral roll was taken up for hearing.

The ECI also submitted that as no modification/ addition/ deletion was possible to weed out the discrepancies in the electoral roll after the last date of making nomination. In order to prevent impersonation of absentee, shifted and duplicate/dead voters, whose names continue to appear in the electoral roll, a list of such voters (ASD) was prepared polling-wise and provided to the presiding officers concerned.

If any persons listed in the ASD turned up, his/her identity would be verified before allowing such a person to vote. Besides, a thump impression of such voters would be taken in the register of votes (Form-17A). Extra precaution had been taken to ensure that those found in the ASD list could not vote more than once.

In his reply affidavit, Mr. Chennithala said the ECI and Chief Electoral Officer was not serious about tackling the serious issue of multiple entries of names in the electoral roll. Besides, they were silent about the action taken on the issue.

He suggested that the BLOs be directed to solicit the choice of the voters in writing with signature or thumb impression in advance of the voters who had names in more than one polling booth and report the same to the presiding officers and other presiding officers of the booths where such voter had entered his name.

He also suggested taking photographs of the face of each voter immediately after putting ink on his/her finger and obtain an affidavit duly attested by the presiding officer to the effect that he/she had cast only one vote.

The court reserved its verdict on his petition.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.