A major irregularity has come to light in the voter lists of Uttar Pradesh ahead of the upcoming three-tier panchayat elections. During a recent review, nearly 10.9 lakh duplicate or suspicious entries were identified in the districts of Varanasi, Ghazipur, and Bhadohi.
Ghazipur tops the list
According to the State Election Commission, the verification process is being carried out through the Election Roll Online (ERO Net) system. This system has revealed cases where the same individual’s name was registered at multiple places. Among the affected districts, Ghazipur reported over 7.5 lakh suspicious entries, the highest number. In Bhadohi, around 2.27 lakh duplicate voters were found, while Varanasi recorded 34,333 such cases.
Officials have clarified that once the verification process is complete, all duplicate names will be removed from the voter list to ensure accuracy before elections.
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Officials assure clean voter rolls
Bhadohi’s Panchayat Election Officer D.K. Purushottam stated that the issue is being taken seriously. He said, “Duplicate voters will be excluded from the final list. After verification, the position will be clear and only genuine voters will remain in the records.”
Concern over electoral integrity
Experts believe that such discrepancies in voter rolls are not just clerical errors but pose a significant challenge to the transparency of democratic processes. They argue that maintaining accurate and up-to-date electoral rolls is essential to preserving the integrity of elections.
They further note that timely revision and independent scrutiny of voter lists play a crucial role in preventing electoral fraud and ensuring that every vote cast represents a legitimate voter.
The Election Commission has indicated that the clean-up exercise will be completed before the panchayat elections, reassuring citizens that corrective action is underway to protect the fairness of the polls.