The Election Commission of India (ECI) has announced that it will provide a unique Electors Photo Identification Card (EPIC) number to all voters across the country within the next three months. This decision comes after concerns were raised about duplicate voter ID numbers in various states.
The issue of duplicate EPIC numbers emerged after Trinamool Congress (TMC) alleged that voter IDs were being misused in West Bengal. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee claimed that names of voters from other states had been included in the West Bengal electoral rolls. She pointed out that multiple voters were found with the same EPIC numbers.
The ECI, in response, clarified that a sample inquiry into over 100 electors showed that these voters were genuine. The commission explained that errors occurred due to incorrect use of the EPIC series by some Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) since the year 2000. Since states and union territories were managing electoral roll databases independently, such duplications remained undetected for years.
TMC leaders were quick to respond, with MP Saket Gokhale stating that the ECI had admitted to its failure and was now trying to fix the issue within three months. The Congress-backed group EAGLE also criticized the commission, questioning how the issue persisted for decades despite ECI’s previous claims that voter IDs were unique.
The Election Commission has assured that the matter will be resolved by assigning a nationally unique EPIC number to all existing electors with duplicate IDs and ensuring the same for future voters.
The ECI also clarified that irrespective of an EPIC number, a voter can only cast their vote at their registered polling station.
With this move, the Election Commission aims to strengthen electoral transparency and eliminate errors that could lead to voter fraud.
