EC lens on 42,000 voters in Chennai

Chennai: Nearly 42,000 voters in Chennai are now under scanner for double entries and the Election Commission has instructed district election officers to conduct field verification to ensure that multiple entries are deleted from electoral rolls.

According to public (election) department sources, the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) has written to all district collectors about double entries in photo electoral rolls. After Chennai, Kancheepuram and Tiruvallur districts had 37,169 and 26,453 double entries. Perambalur and Ariyalur had the least number of double entries, 431 and 654 entries.

A special tool has been developed by the election department to ensure that a voter’s name figures only in one constituency. The election department has kick started a photograph check by comparing the pictures of voters. In the process, a whopping 3.37 lakh electors have been identified with similar data entries and photo identities, a senior official explained. Of this, there are twins having identical photos and there are brothers having common family name with same initials.

“The number of voters in the state as on date is 5.82 crore and we have noticed that in a few districts, the number of voters and census estimates are in contrast, hence the new attempt to speed up roll correction works”, said CEO Rajesh Lakhoni. He also cautioned that any person who seeks to register himself in more than one place or furnishes false information is liable for criminal action with reference to provisions of Section 31 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950.

The public are the ones to be blamed for double entries, whenever they change their residence they include their names for the voters roll, but do not delete the names from the previous polling booth rolls where they have resided, said civic activist Arani Sreenivasan adding that free flow of cash for votes is also a factor
for residents to have multiple entries, so that they can reap poll benefits showered by political parties.