New Delhi: As part of a huge effort to bring accuracy and transparency to the voters’ roll, the Election Commission of India (ECI) has given a three-month window to resolve the age-old problem of duplicate voter ID cards. The commission has made it clear that every voter should have only one valid identification number, hoping to correct discrepancies that have run for decades.
The issue goes as far back as the early 2000s, when the Electoral Photo Identity Card (EPIC) system was implemented in all states and union territories. There were mistakes made in allocation and oversights by some electoral registration officials that saw duplicate EPIC numbers being given to some of the voters. To address this, the Election Commission has opted to reissue unique national EPIC numbers to the affected people and make sure that all new voters are issued distinct IDs so that duplication will not occur in the future. The Election Commission plans to complete the entire process in three months.
India’s electoral roll contains more than 990 million registered voters, and thus management of the voter list is a continuous process. The onus of revising the rolls rests with district election officers and electoral registration officials, with active involvement from political parties and the public. The Special Summary Revision (SSR) of electoral rolls is done every year between October and December, with the final roll being published in January. In states and union territories where elections are due, a special revision is done prior to the polls.
It involves booth-level officials, party-deputed booth-level agents, validation mechanisms, grievances redressal, draft roll voter lists, claim and objections, and appeal mechanisms. According to the Election Commission, cancelling duplicate voter IDs will be a major deterrent to the accuracy of electoral rolls, making way for free and fair elections.