THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Following a high court order, the election commission has come up with a set of standard operating procedures (SOP) to be followed before a person casts the vote in the upcoming election. The SOP is intended to ensure that only eligible voters cast their vote and duplicate voters are weeded out.
In a statement, the commission said that in compliance with the high court judgment and in light of the extant instructions, the district electoral officers (DEOs) and returning officers (ROs) have been directed to provide the list of all absent, shifted, and dead or duplicate (ASDs) voters to all the presiding officers concerned. In case a voter identified as ASD visits the polling station to cast a vote, the presiding officer will follow the SoP laid down by the ECI before letting the person vote.
As per the SoP, such a voter's thumb impression will be taken, in addition to his/her signature, and a declaration will also be obtained. The particular voter's photo will be captured and preserved for future reference.
These measures will be in addition to checking to confirm that the indelible ink mark on the voter's finger has dried up. Anyone trying to vote in multiple places or attempting to impersonate will be prosecuted as per section 171D, 171F, etc of the Indian Penal Code. The punishment can extend up to one year of imprisonment or a fine or both.
The High Court in a writ petition dated March 31, related to duplicate and multiple entries, had directed the chief electoral officer to take necessary measures to prevent duplicate voting.
The Electoral Roll (ER) is joined by new electors when they become eligible, besides when electors migrate, change their address, or even the photograph. Also, dead electors have to be deleted based on information from family members. There are detailed SoPs for inclusion as well as deletion from the ER.
However, the commission said that the process of deletion is far more stringent to avoid any wrongful deletion that may deprive an eligible elector of his voting right. As a result, there are instances where an elector gets enrolled at his new residence while not applying for deletion at the old address. After opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala had raised the issue of duplicate voters, the election machinery in the state had conducted a thorough field verification and came up with a list of ASD entries in the electoral roll.