What’s the difference between Qamer Fatima and Qemar Fatima? Just one letter. But for 55-year-old Qemer Fatima in Hyderabad, that one letter was enough for the Election Commission’s system to flag her voter record. Her current voter record says Qamer Fatima. But the 2002 electoral roll lists her as Qemar Fatima. Because the system could not establish that the two names belonged to the same person, Fatima received a notice asking her to prove the connection or risk being struck off the voter list. Across just six booths in Hyderabad’s Langer House area, where she lives, 205 voters received notices citing the same reason. Across Telangana, this number runs into lakhs. Watch the full video for more.
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