EC to audit voter lists, EVMs in poll-bound states

In order to bring transparency in the electoral rolls in the light of the Opposition parties’ complaint of discrepancies, the Election Commission has decided to conduct an audit of the pollrelated activities to check the preparedness in the five pollbound states of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Mizoram and Telangana.

An EC official said the audit will reveal whether the EC’s instructions and directions are followed in these states. The Opposition parties in all these states have alleged inclusion of lakhs of bogus voters ahead of the assembly polls later this year.

The audit will cover the electoral rolls, polling stations, storage of the electronic voting machines (EVMs) and functioning of VVPAT, training of booth-level officers, voters’ awareness programmes, accuracy of the electoral rolls, voters guide and arrangement for disabled-friendly facility in booths.

In a letter to the chief electoral officers of the five states, the EC has directed the concerned officials to provide any information that is sought by the teams immediately on the same day. The letter says the audit teams will soon visit the states.

The mandate of these audit teams to detect instances of non-adherence of the EC guidelines and legal provisions, quality of the electoral rolls. The CEO of Madhya Pradesh has, however, urged the EC to postpone the team''s visit only after it completes finalisation of the electoral rolls in the state later this month.

A petition of the Madhya Pradesh Congress is already pending in the Supreme Court alleging inclusion of some 60 lakh fake voters, though the EC claimed tehre was no merit in the Congress allegation.