NEW DELHI: The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Friday announced that it would address the decade long issue of duplicate Electoral Photo Identity Card (EPIC) numbers within next three months. The exercise would be conducted under District Electoral officers (DEOs) and Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) ensuring continuous participation of public at large and political parties in particular.
The ECI has decided on this in the wake of criticism from Opposition parties, including the Congress and the TMC, as it also claimed that it has already taken cognizance of the issue of duplicate EPIC numbers.
“Irrespective of an EPIC number, an elector who is linked to the electoral roll of a particular polling station can cast his vote at that polling station only and nowhere else. Sample inquiry of over 100 electors reveals that electors with duplicate EPIC numbers are genuine electors,” the ECI said in a statement.
The poll panel pointed out that since the allotment of the EPIC series in 2000 to the States and Union Territories (UTs), some EROs did not use the correct series. “The issue of allotment of duplicate numbers due to incorrect series across States/UTs could not have been detected as the States/UTs were independently managing the electoral roll databases,” it informed.
The ECI said, “The Commission has now decided to resolve this long-pending issue after detailed discussions within the technical teams and CEOs concerned in the next three months by ensuring a unique national EPIC number to the existing electors having a duplicate EPIC number and for future electors as well.”
On March 2 this year the Commission had issued a statement saying duplication in EPIC numbers does not imply duplicate or fake voters. It issued the statement while taking cognizance of certain social media posts and media reports flagging the issue of electors of two different states having identical EPIC numbers.
The Congress had slammed the ECI over the matter and called it “bizarre”. The grand old party had also said that a unique voter ID for every Indian voter is the fundamental requirement and premise of a clean voter list.
The TMC had on last Monday called the duplication in EPIC numbers an “epic scam” and had given the poll panel a 24-hour deadline to “accept its mistake”.