ECI clarifies same EPIC number doesn’t imply duplicate or fake voters
This follows certain reports circulated on social media that electors in two different States were getting the same Voter ID numbers
New Delhi: Same electors photo identify card (EPIC) number does not imply duplicate or fake voters, the Election Commision of India (ECI) clarified on Saturday. ECI released a statement explaining that an elector can only vote at the polling booth mentioned in his EPIC, which will be different even if the EPIC number is same.
This follows certain reports circulated on social media that electors in two different States were getting the same Voter ID numbers.
The EC said that the duplication in EPIC number happened due to the use of “decentralised and manual mechanism” with “identical alphanumeric series” by two different states and Union Territories (UTs).
“Irrespective of the EPIC number, any elector can cast a vote only at their designated polling station in their respective constituency in their State/UT where they are enrolled in the electoral roll and nowhere else. The allotment of identical EPIC number/series to some electors from different States/UTs was due to a decentralized and manual mechanism being followed prior to shifting of the electoral roll database of all States/UTs to the ERONET platform. This resulted in certain State/UT Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) office using the same EPIC alphanumeric series and leaving a scope for the possibility of duplicate EPIC numbers being allotted to electors in different Assembly Constituencies in different States/UTs,” read the statement issued on Sunday.
The EC added that to do away with this confusion, it will ensure allotment of a unique EPIC number to all registered electors, and the ‘ERONET 2.0 platform’ will be updated to facilitate and support this process.
The West Bengal Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), meanwhile, responded to chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s allegation that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was adding “fake voters” on the electoral roll ahead of 2026 assembly elections. “As per the Representation of People’s Act, 1950; Registration of Electors Rules 1960; and Manual on Electoral Rolls, the concerned Booth Level Officers, Assistant Electoral Roll Officers, Electoral Roll Officers, District Election Officer, and CEOs in any State/UT work for the updation of Electoral Rolls. This is done with active participation of Booth Level Agents appointed by political parties. Any specific claim or objections are to be made first before the concerned 80,633 BLOs, 3,049 AEROs and 294 EROs in West Bengal,” he posted on X.
As per the ECI, ERONET is a web based application used for elector registration issues to handle all processes pertaining to registration, migration, and deletion of names from the electoral roll.
The Trinamool Congress (TMC) hit back on X, “Duplicate EPIC numbers across states? A ‘manual error’ or a meticulously crafted scam to rig elections? They manipulated voter rolls in Maharashtra & Delhi and got away with it. They tried the same in Bengal but got caught.”