AP Chief Electoral Officer asks Collectors to be cautious of duplicate votes

AMARAVATI: Acting on complaints from the YSR Congress Party on electors possessing duplicate votes, Andhra Pradesh Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Mukesh Kumar Meena on Friday asked the district collectors (district election officers) to take precautions to maintain the integrity of the process.

Earlier the YSRCP had approached the CEO and alleged that electors possessing duplicate votes in Andhra Pradesh and neighbouring states and asked to take action against them. The party also raised a concern that following the conclusion of elections in elections in other states, some voters may enrol afresh in Andhra Pradesh with or without the deregistration.

Regarding the complaints raised by YSRCP, the CEO wrote to all district election officers to be vigilant, and in all cases of objections on existing electors in the electoral roll on suspicion of being a duplicate or dead or shifted elector. “The appropriate measure is to file Form-7 through the objector who is an elector of the Constituency or through the concerned Booth Level Agents (BLA) in online mode or submit it to the Booth Level Officer /Election Returning Officer/Assistant Election Returning Officer along with proper supporting documents subject to the condition that bulk forms in physical mode will not be accepted,” he said.

The CEO said that all such forms filed by any objector should be disposed of expeditiously after due enquiry as per ECI guidelines and as per the SoP dated (August 11, 2023). According to Sections 17 and 18 of the Representation of the People Act, of 1950, a person cannot be enrolled as a voter at more than one place and no person could be enrolled as an elector more than once in any electoral roll, he added.

Mukesh Kumar Meena said, “Applying for enrolment hiding the previous enrolment by giving a false declaration will entail penal action under Section 31 of the Representation of People Act, 1950. Further, Form 6 shall only be taken from the first-time applicant for enrolment as an elector. While filing Form-6 for fresh enrolment a declaration has to be signed that his/her name is not included in the electoral roll of any other constituencies.”

The CEO said that if a person gave false declarations, they would be liable to be punished under section 31 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950 which carries imprisonment for a year, or fine, or both. Further, field verification for all Form 6 applications where the age of the applicant is above 20 years should focus specifically on ascertaining the reason for non-enrolment. Remarks to be written by the BLO in each case, he said.

Mukesh Kumar Meena also advised the BLOs and AEROs that during scrutiny of form 8 for shifting from other States, to search the names of the applicants for duplication with the help of EPIC numbers on the ECI portal. If the name was found in any other place, the same shall be recorded as comments on the forms by the BLO. “If any objection is received, a personal hearing is to be conducted and a final decision by the ERO should be taken only after considering all aspects including supporting documents, field verification, remarks of BLO/AERO, objections raised by any elector/BLA if any, personal hearing, and additional measures like electoral search option in ECI portal,” he said.

The CEO said that as a measure of complete transparency and for the information of all stakeholders, the list of claims and objections would be made available by EROs to all political parties on a weekly basis. “It will be published on the CEO's website daily. List of additions and deletions are also placed on the CEO website on a weekly basis,” he said.