New Delhi, March 8 (MExN): The Election Commission of India (ECI) has stated that the longstanding issue of duplicate Electors Photo Identity Card (EPIC) numbers will be resolved within the next three months.
The Commission has decided to resolve the long-pending issue within the next three months by ensuring a unique national EPIC number is assigned to existing electors with duplicate EPIC numbers, as well as for future electors, according to a statement issued by the ECI on March 7, amid controversy over duplicate Voter ID Card numbers affecting some electors in recent times. The decision follows detailed discussions with teams and concerned Chief Electoral Officers, it added.
As per the ECI, the issue arose due to some Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) using incorrect series during the allotment of EPIC numbers across states and Union Territories since the year 2000, leading to duplicate entries.
The ECI clarified that electors with duplicate EPIC numbers are still genuine voters, as they are linked to the electoral roll of a specific polling station. They can only cast their vote at the designated polling station, it added.
Meanwhile, to stress the transparency of the process, the ECI stated that India’s Electoral Rolls, the largest database of electors across the globe with over 99 crore registered electors, are prepared by District Election Officers and Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) with continuous public and political party participation.
In addition to the continuous updation of Electoral Rolls, the Commission conducts the Annual Special Summary Revision (SSR) during the October-December period, resulting in the publication of final rolls in January, it added.
For the poll-going States/UTs, SSR is also conducted prior to the elections, it said.
At every booth, a Booth Level Officer (BLO) is appointed by the Electoral Registration Officer (ERO), while political parties also have the right to appoint Booth Level Agents (BLAs), the ECI said.
All BLAs have the right to verify the electoral roll of the concerned booth and raise a complaint for any anomaly, it noted.
After house-to-house field verification, the concerned BLO submits the recommendations to the concerned ERO, it added.
Only after taking into account the above facts, the ERO verifies the details of each elector for the updation of electoral rolls, the ECI said.
It further pointed out that only after the verification of draft electoral rolls and settling any claims and objections received during a one-month period, final rolls are published and made available to political parties and also polling station-wise on the ECI website (https://voters.eci.gov.in/download-eroll).
Even if the person is not satisfied with the decision of the first appellate authority, a second appeal to the Chief Electoral Officer of the concerned State/UT under section 24(b) of the RP Act 1950 can be filed, it added.
Meanwhile, as per the new agency PTI, the Congress on Friday has termed as “duplicitous” the Election Commission’s explanation on duplicate voter ID numbers and asked the poll body to come clean on the issue.
“The Congress party rejects this feeble and duplicitous explanation by the ECI and reiterates its demands to come clean on the sanctity of voter lists in India,” the Congress’ Empowered Action Group of Leaders and Experts (EAGLE) said in a statement.
According to the Trinamool Congress (TMC), the TMC has finally admitted and accepted ‘guilt’ over the issue.
