In a move to bring transparency in the electoral rolls after demands of Opposition parties, the Election Commission (EC) will conduct an audit of poll-related activities and its preparedness in five poll-bound States — Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Mizoram and Telangana.
The audit will also reveal whether EC’s instructions and directions are being followed in these States. The Opposition parties in all these States have alleged that lakhs of bogus voters have been included in the voters list ahead of the assembly polls due this year.
Top sources in EC said that the audit will include voters lists, polling stations, storage of electronic voting machines (EVMs) and functioning of VVPAT, the systematic voters’ education and electoral participation (SVEEP)traning activities, training of booth level officers (BLOs), voters’ awareness programmes, accuracy of votes list, voters guide, risk management, polling booths and arrangement for disabled friendly voters.
In a letter to Chief Electoral Officers of these States, the EC has directed officials concerned to provide any clarification or information, which the teams may require as part of the audit immediately on the same day. According to EC sources, audit teams will soon visit to these States.
“The commission will, through these audit teams, be monitoring compliance of EC instructions/statutory provisions for roll management and various other activities and also steps taken for improvement of quality of the rolls. The mandate of these audit teams is to detect specific instances of non-adherence of ECI guidelines or legal provisions and follow it up by remedial actions by field machinery. The audit teams during their visit will deeply look into all aspects of roll management, including but not restricted to carrying out test, checks of records and physical verification,” the EC said.
According to agencies report, the Chief Electoral Officer of Madhya Pradesh has asked the EC to postpone the visit, saying the finalisation of electoral rolls in the State is due to end later this month and that they should visit after that.
It is noted that Madhya Pradesh Congress has filed a petition before the EC, alleging that a large number of fake voters were included in the voters’ list in connivance with booth-level officers (BLOs) across the state. Earlier, MP Congress unit president Kamal Nath and State Congress election campaign committee head Jyotiraditya Scindia had lodged a complaint with the Election Commission in Delhi claiming that there were about 60 lakh fake voters in Madhya Pradesh. The election commission, however, had said it found no merit in the Congress’s allegations. Last month, the Congress in Rajasthan alleged that there were over 42 lakh duplicate entries in the voter list in the State. In Chhattisgarh, the Congress alleged of inclusion of eight lakh fake voters in the electoral rolls. The Congress in Telangana also alleged for 70 lakh bogus voters in the State.
Besides, the Commission also decided to use latest model of M3-type EVMs which is “non-tamperable” and credible. The Commission also directed Returning Officers of States and Union Territories to distribute photo voter slips to the political parties.