Election Commission Admits Duplicate Voter ID Issue, Asserts No 'Fake Voters'

Regarding recent allegations of identical voter cards during elections in Haryana and West Bengal, the Election Commission of India (ECI) on Sunday admitted that it allotted identical EPIC numbers to some electors from different states or union territories, which happened due to the “centralised and manual mechanism being followed prior to the shifting of the electoral roll database of all states and UTs to the ERONET platform.”

The ERONET helps election officials in the maintenance of the electoral system by removing duplicate entries and including migrated electors, as per the ECI’s website.

The poll body then pointed out the practice resulted in certain State/UT CEO offices using the same EPIC alphanumeric series and leaving a scope for the possibility of duplicate EPIC numbers being allotted to electors in different Assembly Constituencies in different States/UTs.

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The All India Trinamool Congress (TMC) had on February 28 flagged the concern, sharing a list of people with duplicate EPIC numbers in voter rolls of West Bengal, among other states.

However, while admitting the issue, the Election Commission stated that the duplication of the voter card numbers did not necessarily mean that there were fake voters. “Irrespective of EPIC numbers, any elector can cast a vote only at their designated polling station in their respective constituency in their states/UTs where they are enrolled in the electoral rolls and nowhere else,” the EC’s clarification noted.

However, the poll body further said that it has decided to ensure the allotment of a unique EPIC number to registered electors to allay any apprehensions.

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“Any case of duplicate EPIC number will be rectified by allotting a unique EPIC number. The ERONET 2.0 platform will also be updated, keeping this issue in mind to aid voters,” the EC added.