Consider Adopting Technological Tools To Eliminate Duplicate Names In Voters List: Delhi High Court To ECI

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday asked the Election Commission of India (ECI) to consider adopting technological tools that would assist it in eliminating duplicate names of individuals in the voters list.A division bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Vibhu Bakhru and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela disposed of a public interest litigation seeking action against individual voters maintaining multiple entries in the voters list in the national capital. The PIL was moved by Rashtravadi Adharsh Mahasangh, alleging that Election Commission of Delhi failed to update the voters list which has large number of duplicate entries despite SOP issued by the ECI. The plea alleged that lakhs of duplicate voters have been enrolled in the voters list of Delhi which can be tracked and rectified by adopting Photo Similar entries (PSE) and Demographic Similar Entries (DSE) as mandated by ECI to all the States vide its letter issued on August 11, 2023. The PIL sought compliance of the said letter and prayed that correction of the voters list be carried out to eliminate duplicate names. Advocate Siddhant Kumar appearing for ECI submitted that necessary process is being followed for revision of electoral rolls. He said that technological tools were deployed to eliminate duplicate names in the voters list and that the petitioner's grievance did not survive. Accordingly, the Court disposed of the plea by directing the authorities to consider the averments made in the PIL at an appropriate stage. “Needless to state that if the Commission (ECI) finds that there are technological tools that would assist the Commission in eliminating the duplicate names, the same would be adopted. The petition is disposed of with such observations,” the Court said. The PIL alleged that States were “sitting over the matter” and were allowing duplication of voters in their electoral rolls as a result of which the democratic process of election was being rigged and the fundamental rights of the citizen of the country were being affected adversely.“Now with the advent of the Artificial Intelligence tools, which the Election commission has adopted, it is possible to track the duplicate entries in the voters list through the above stated two methods. It is only a matter of few minutes entire duplicate entries in the electoral rolls can be checked, rectified and remodified but the state governments due to their selfish political gains are sitting over the matter and allowing the democratic process to be hijacked by vested interests by rigging the voters list/electoral rolls itself,” the PIL said. Title: Rashtravadi Adharsh Mahasangh v. ECI & Anr. Citation: 2025 LiveLaw (Del) 37

Consider Adopting Technological Tools To Eliminate Duplicate Names In Voters List: Delhi High Court To ECI

Nupur Thapliyal

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