Delhi voter list inflated, some 15 lakh voters doubtful: EC

Pre-poll exercise finds deletions not carried out in list over last 15-20 yrs.

Delhi, it seems, has only been adding voters and deleting none over the last 15 years, if the highly inflated electoral roll is anything to go by.

In a pre-poll exercise conducted for the first time in 15 years, the Election Commission of Delhi has identified 15 lakh bogus voters under the "doubtful" category in the national capital. This figure is 11 per cent of the total electorate of 1.23 crore voters in the capital.

"We have identified inflation in the electoral roll in certain age groups. The number of men between 30-50 years is an inflated figure, while the number of women and youth is deflated. We also found that there have been no deletions in the roll over the last 15 to 20 years," Delhi's Chief Electoral Officer Vijay Dev told Newsline.

After a house-to-house Assembly constituency-wise survey, the election commission has identified a shocking 15 lakh voters in the "doubtful" category.

Electoral Registration Officers (EROs), with powers similar to sub-divisional magistrates (SDMs), have been appointed to make additions and deletions in the electoral roll of each of the 70 Assembly constituencies.

"We have identified 15 lakh "doubtful" cases. But there is a due legal procedure for making any deletions in the electoral chart, as voting is the constitutional right of a citizen. So, notices are being sent to all these "doubtful" individuals to appear before the booth level officer and prove their case," Dev said.

"There are several cases where an individual registered four times or more, sometimes on the same address or under different addresses. We have identified three categories — expired (in case the voter is dead and still continues to be on the electoral roll); replicated (if the same voter has more than one address, and different entries in the electoral roll); and duplicated (if the voter has shifted houses and got two different entries in the electoral roll)," Dev said.

... contd.

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