NEW DELHI, APRIL 27: Taking note of The Sunday Express report that electoral photo-identity cards issued by the Election Commission of India have been procured by top Pakistani militants operating in Kashmir, Chief Election Commissioner N Gopala-swami today said that misuse of voter identity cards and a gamut of poll-related issues would be taken up with the Chief Electoral Officer of J&K later this week.

Confirming that the misuse of voter identity cards will be on the agenda when the J&K CEO comes calling, Gopalaswami told The Indian Express: “The Commission will take up the issue of availability of the older version of electoral cards and the possibility of issuing new electoral cards to people not covered in Jammu and Kashmir. The possibility of replacing the older cards, issuing fresh ones like EPICs (electoral photo identity cards) elsewhere and alternative identity proof that could be acceptable for polls will be discussed with the chief electoral officer of the state later this week.”

He acknowledged the fact that in photo cards issued to J&K voters earlier, photographs were affixed manually — unlike the normal ECI cards where photographs are digitized, making misuse difficult.

This unprecedented security breach in J&K came to light when EC I-cards were found on the bodies of militant commanders Tufail alias Abu Eisa and Abdul Majid alias Osman. The two were killed in an encounter on January 19-20 this year. The J&K police first thought that these militants had faked the cards but The Sunday Express learnt that subsequent investigations showed that the cards were “genuine” and were officially registered with the local Tehsildar who simultaneously functions as the Assistant Electoral Registration Officer.

Assembly elections in J&K are slated for September this year.

Gopalaswami said the issue of cross-checking electoral rolls will also be taken up. The J&K CEO had missed the meeting of CEOs of poll-bound states called by the Election Commission earlier this month.

The CEC assured that adequate precautions would be taken to ensure a security breach, such as the one reported, does not happen. “During the meeting, the entire poll preparation for the forthcoming polls will be reviewed. Measures related to cross-checking of electoral rolls will definitely be emphasised upon,” he said.

According to Gopalaswami, intelligence agencies had brought to the EC notice similar misuse of electoral cards in Bangalore in 2006. This made the Commission stress on measures to cross-check electoral rolls and prevent misuse.