The State Election Commission (SEC) is scouting for the dead on the voter’s list for civic polls after complaints of the names of several deceased figuring on the list.
Recently the SEC had removed the names of around 4 lakh people who were either dead or not residing in the wards where they lived earlier.
The were also complaints that the names of a few persons who were murdered in the State capital also figured on the list. A few political party leaders too complained that the list was populated by significant number of deceased. They also fear that political parties in power may misuse the list and attempt bogus voting during the upcoming polls.
Directive to EROs
A week ago, the SEC had written to all the Electoral Registration Officers (ERO) of the State to vet the lists in their jurisdiction to weed out the dead from the list. The secretaries of the municipalities and panchayats and the additional secretaries of the Corporations function as the EROs for the polls.
The EROs can verify the names with the death registers maintained in the respective local bodies. The service of ASHA workers who maintain a close contact with the families in their respective areas and also the civic representatives will also be sought, said Commission chairman V. Bhaskaran.
The EROs have been asked to compile a separate list of the deceased voters. The travel restrictions imposed by the COVID-19 have restricted several EROs from carrying out personal enquiries, he said.
Foolproof system
Mr. Bhaskaran ruled out the possibility of political parties indulging in bogus voting using the names of the deceased voters. The voting is carried out by using a photo-based voters’ list. The voter who turns up at the polling booth can be identified using the photo-based list.
Moreover, the polling agents of political parties can verify the identity of the voters. Yet, the SEC is taking all possible efforts to draw up a perfect list, he said.
The names of as many as 2.62 crore voters were included on the electoral list that was released by the Commission on June 17.
The list would serve as the base electoral list for the local body polls though voters, who have attained the minimum age of voting and who were not included on the list, will get two more chances for enrolment.
The the list will be next updated in August and the final one during the month before the polls, SEC sources said.