NEW DELHI: Amid allegations of a cover-up over duplicate voter identification card numbers, the Election Fee (EC) on Friday mentioned it’s going to handle the “decades-long” matter within the subsequent three months. The Trinamool Congress (TMC) flagged the problem of duplicate voter identification card numbers in numerous states and accused the EC of a cover-up.
TMC MP Saket Gokhale mentioned the Election Fee has lastly admitted and accepted their guilt that duplicate Electoral Picture Identification Card (EPIC) numbers have been allotted to a number of individuals. “This can be a rip-off and solutions have to be given,” he posted on X.
In a press release, the ballot authority mentioned India’s electoral rolls are the most important database of electors throughout the globe with over 99 crore registered voters. “As regards the problem of duplicate Electoral Picture Identification Card numbers, the Fee has already taken cognisance of the matter. No matter an EPIC quantity, an elector who’s linked to the electoral roll of a selected polling station can solid his vote at that polling station solely and nowhere else,” it asserted.
The ballot authority mentioned it has now determined to resolve this “long-pending challenge” after detailed discussions throughout the technical groups and anxious state chief electoral officers within the subsequent three months by guaranteeing a “distinctive nationwide EPIC quantity” to the prevailing electors having a replica EPIC quantity. The brand new system might be relevant for future electors as properly, it added.
Explaining the process associated to the updation of electoral rolls, the EC mentioned at each sales space, political events even have the proper to nominate booth-level brokers (BLAs) who’ve a proper to confirm the electoral roll of the involved sales space and lift a criticism for the anomaly, if any. If any particular person has any objection, he has the choice to file the primary attraction to the district Justice of the Peace or district election officer underneath part 24(a) of the Illustration of the Individuals (RP) Act, 1950.
If the particular person isn’t glad with the choice of the primary appellate authority, a second attraction to the Chief Electoral Officer of the involved state or Union Territory (UT) underneath part 24(b) of the RP Act may be filed. Knowledge shared by the ballot authority confirmed that throughout the nation, 89 first-level appeals and one second-level attraction had been made in Maharashtra and no different state. EC functionaries identified that no appeals had been filed in West Bengal.
