NEW DELHI, Mar 2: In response to concerns about identical voter card numbers being assigned to voters in different states, the Election Commission clarified on Sunday that duplicate numbers do not necessarily indicate the presence of fake voters.
It acknowledged that while some Elector Photo Identity Card (EPIC) numbers may appear the same, other information such as demographic details, assembly constituency, and polling booth are different.
“Regardless of the EPIC number, each elector is permitted to vote only at their designated polling station within the respective constituency of their state or union territory where they are registered on the electoral roll,” the commission stated.
The commission explained that the issuance of identical EPIC numbers or series to different electors in various states and union territories was a consequence of a “decentralized and manual mechanism” used prior to the migration of the electoral roll database to the ERONET platform.
This led to some state chief electoral officers utilizing the same EPIC alphanumeric series, creating the possibility of duplicate EPIC numbers being assigned to voters across different assembly constituencies in various states.
According to the EC website, the ERONET platform assists election officials in maintaining the electoral system by eliminating duplicate entries and incorporating migrated voters.
“To address any concerns, the commission has committed to issuing a unique EPIC number to registered electors. Any instance of a duplicate EPIC number will be corrected with the assignment of a unique number,” the EC stated.
The ERONET 2.0 platform will be updated to facilitate this process, according to the announcement. (PTI)
