Prima Facie There Are Discrepancies In Final Voters List; Ensure No Double Voting : Kerala High Court To Election Commission

Making a prima facie finding regarding discrepancies in the final voters list, the Kerala High Court has issued interim orders to the Election Commission that it must ensure no person votes more than once. A Bench of Chief Justice S Manikumar and Justice Shaji P Chaly issued the order on a petition filed by Kerala Leader of Opposition Ramesh Chennithala alleging the existence of widespread fraudulent votes, double entry of voter names etc.Finding that there was prima facie material to demonstrate discrepancies in the final voters list prepared by the Election Commission of India (Commission), the Bench ruled,"We are of the view that a voter should be permitted to cast only one vote, wherever his name is registered."Therefore the Court ordered the Commission to ensure that there is no double voting by any voter withsufficient State / Central force posted at all voting places, to ensure fair and democratic election.In this light, the Commission was enjoined to take steps on "a war footing basis". All possible steps should be taken to ensure that there is no double voting. Orders of this Court should be implemented in letter and spirit, without any room for compliant (complaint)", the Court stated.Chennithala approached the Court through Advocates T Asaf Ali and Laliza TY and sought direction to the Commission to rectify the errors discovered in the voting list. The Court took the matter up for hearing today after the Commission on Friday sought time to respond with a statement to the allegations raised in the writ petition. Stating that it had not yet received the Commission's document, the Bench observed that it would issue directions so that the Commission could make the necessary changes immediately to prevent votes being registered in more than one person's name.During the course of hearing today, Advocate T. Asaf Ali placed on record computerized printouts of the voters of the Thiruvananthapuram Central Constituency to demonstrate that voters with the same photographs were registered under different serial numbers in different booths. Appearing for the Commission, Standing Counsel for the Election Commission of India Deepu Lal Mohan suggested that at times when a voter shifts his residence and goes to some other place, there were possibilities of being registering twice. This could explain the multiple entries, it was submitted. Standing Counsel Mohan informed the Court that instructions have been issued to the concerned officers to visit the residences of such voters, and efforts are taken to avoid multiple voting. However, to the Court's query concerning action taken to discover chances of multiple entry, apart from the reasons of absence / shifting, the Standing Counsel submitted that he needed more time to take instructions. He however urged that steps have been taken to correct the electoral roll / voters list, and that these steps would be filed in the form of a counter affidavit with supporting documents.The matter is expected to be taken up tomorrow, that is March 30, 2021.Click here to download the order

Prima Facie There Are Discrepancies In Final Voters List; Ensure No Double Voting : Kerala High Court To Election Commission

Lydia Suzanne Thomas

"We are of the prima facie view that there are discrepancies in the final voters list published by the Election Commission", the Court noted.

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