HYDERABAD: The office of the state chief electoral officer is using an upgraded version of a software, Electoral Rolls Services Net (ERONET), to detect duplicate or bogus voters by checking demographically similar entries of similar photos and names, matching father’s name, house numbers and abnormal ages of voters.
The Election Commission of India has upgraded ERONET software which would help in the purification of voter list. The software would identify duplicate names in the rolls, alert officials and de-register such voters from the constituencies. The software will enable the electoral registration officers to share a common database of electors to check duplication of names and remove them.
If any of these are found in the electoral rolls during the verification process they would be deleted from the electoral rolls by following due procedure. The main objective is to prepare error-free electoral rolls, chief electoral officer Rajat Kumar has said. While ERONET aims at detecting duplicate entries, it is not sure if the system can actually help in purging electoral rolls of fake voters. Time and again, citizens groups and electoral roll analysts have been blaming erroneous electoral rolls for poor voter turnout in various districts including Hyderabad.
Officials in the CEO’s office, who are working on introducing the software, are also not sure if the new system would help in purifying electoral rolls. The software cannot fix human errors. At best, it can show repeat entries which may or may not be duplicate. In such a case, responsibility lies mostly with booth-level officers to cross-check the entries. According to Rajat Kumar, the second special summary revision of electoral rolls with reference to January 1, 2018 as the qualifying date is going on in the state at a brisk pace. Booth-level officers are deployed at all polling stations to sort out the issues.
On the reported deletion of 22 lakh voters, Rajat Kumar said that they were investigating the matter by using the software.
EVMs arrive in city
EVMs, consisting of balloting units and controlling units, arrived from the Bharat Electronics Limited, Bengaluru on Tuesday. All these EVMs have been stored in the indoor stadium at Victory Play Ground, Chaderghat amidst high security arrangements. EVMs, consisting of 6,120 balloting units and 4,780 controlling units, have been allocated to Hyderabad district.
Autorickshaw, hat not to be poll symbols
The symbols of autorickshaw and hat will not be allowed in the forthcoming Assembly elections as these look similar to TRS symbol of car and might create confusion among voters, Karimnagar Lok Sabha member and TRS leader B Vinod Kumar has said. Vinod Kumar recalled that TRS president K Chandrasekhar Rao had submitted a letter to the Election Commission of India in 2015, requesting it not to allow the use of autorickshaw and hat as election symbols by candidates or parties.
The voters were confused a lot in 2014 when the EC used car, autorickshaw and hat symbols. With the request made by Chandrasekhar Rao, the EC removed autorickshaw and hat as symbols in 2015 itself. In its gazette in July 2018 too the EC made it clear that it would not use autorickshaw and hat symbols in both Andhra Pradesh and Telangana in the next elections, Vinod Kumar said.