THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Election Commission of India has decided to carry out a ‘purification’ of the voters’ list from February 15 in view of the allegations of widespread bogus entries in the draft voters’ list for the coming Assembly elections.
The major political parties raised the issue at a meeting with Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi and other top officials here on Thursday. The Congress even alleged that about 1.5 lakh bogus voters were found in the voters list.
“Considering the concerns of the political parties, a purification of the voters list will be done from February 15 to eliminate any bogus voters and to add genuine voters who were missed out. Any sort of bulk deletions or additions would be done only as per the laid down procedures,” Mr. Zaidi told reporters here.
The KPCC had recently claimed that it could detect about 1.5 lakh bogus voters in 2,739 booths alone and was in the process of verifying the draft voters lists of the remaining booths.
The CEC also warned of stern action against favouritism or malpractices by booth-level officers and the grassroots- level officials involved in roll revision process.
Applications received from persons till ten days ahead of the last day of filing nominations for the Assembly polls could be considered for enrolling in the electoral rolls.
Mr. Zaidi, who also held meetings with senior state officials and police, said that the schedule of poll would be decided on the basis of the feedback from politicians, officials and the police.
Political parties had suggested that the polls should not coincide with major festivals and examinations.
The ECI has directed that there should be basic amenities in all the
21,498 polling stations, 500 of which would be maintained as model
polling stations.
Voter-verified paper audit trail (VVPAT) that displays the name of the candidate for whom one casts vote would be used in 17 constituencies in the state for the first time. Various apps for purposes like granting permissions to political parties and for lodging complaints would be introduced.
As part of ensuring peaceful and fair election process, historysheeters and those involved in election-related offences earlier would be kept under police surveillance.
There would be strict monitoring against attempts to influence voters with paid news, use of money or liquor.
“Last time, the poll percentage in the state was about 74 percent. Officials are directed to make efforts to improve the pollpercentage by facilitating the maximum number of people to vote,” said Mr. Zaidi, who was accompanied by election commissioners A.K.
Joti and Om Prakash Rawat, and other senior officials of the ECI. Mr. Zaidi said that the recommendation for proxy or e-postal ballots for NRIs was still pending with the government. “Once approved, the ECI can implement it in three months’ time,” he said.
