Thiruvananthapuram: Chief Electoral Officer Teeka Ram Meena has confirmed bogus voting in two more booths in Kannur. He said criminal cases had been slapped against 10 persons for 13 instances of bogus voting in these two booths, one in Pamburuthi Mappila UP School and another in booth number 52 of Dharmadom. The connivance of election officials in these booths will also be put under the scanner.
With this, the total number of proven bogus voting cases has risen to 20. (Earlier, four bogus votes were detected in Kannur, and three in Kasaragod.) The number of persons against whom criminal action has been initiated is now 17.
Charges will be slapped under section 171 c (which relates to undue influence in elections), 171 d (related to impersonation in elections) and 171 f (penalty clause for both undue influence and impersonation during elections) of the Indian Penal Code.
The Pamburuthi bogus vote complaint was filed by the agents of LDF's Kannur candidate P K Sreemathi and an independent candidate by the name K Sudhakaran. The LDF charge was that the bogus votes were cast in the name of voters residing in the Gulf.
The Kannur district collector, while examining the webcast visuals of the booth, found that 12 men had cast fake votes in the booth. Abdul Salam, Marshad and Uniyas K P had voted twice. Mohammad Aslam, Abdul Salam, Sadiq K P, Shamal and Mubashir had voted once at the wrong booth. “All of them were called and their statements recorded. Once the evidence was shown, they admitted to their wrong but sought mercy from the collector. The collector but told them that what they did was unpardonable,” Meena said.
It was also found that the presiding officer was reluctant to intervene effectively though the polling agents had raised strong objections. The election officials will not be spared, Meena said. “The district collector's report has found grave dereliction on the part of the presiding officer, the polling officer and the micro observer of the booth in Pamburuthi school. Criminal charges under section 134 of the Representation of People's Act (punitive clause related to failure in election-related official duty) will be imposed on these officers, too,” the CEO said. Further, he said that the parent departments of these officials have also been asked to take department-level action against these officials.
The Dharmadom bogus vote complaint was registered by the agent of Congress candidate K Sudhakaran. “A person named Sayooj had voted twice,” Meena said. “He was actually a voter in booth number 47 but our video recording shows that he had voted in booth number 52, too,” he added. The police has been asked to probe the role of a man who had apparently helped Sayooj to commit the crime. “The role of the officials in Dharmadom, too, will be examined,” Meena said.
The CEO had on April 29 said that three women, including a panchayat member, had cast bogus votes in Kasaragod constituency.
Rejecting the charge, CPM state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan had criticised the CEO and alleged that Meena was acting in accordance with UDF's ploy.
The CPM has rejected the charge, maintaining that the three women were present in the booth only to perform "open voting", which involves assisting voters who are unable to cast their votes independently.
It has welcomed a probe into the allegations.
However, Meena had said that he was hearing the term "open voting" for the first time.
"As per our law, there is no open vote. When I asked the Collector about this, he told me the term may be the colloquial parlance for assisted or companion voting. Maybe there is a local reference like that, but even in the case of a companion vote, the voter must be present inside the booth. They could have brought the voter in a wheelchair," he had told media earlier.
The CEO had also confirmed that three Congress led UDF workers had cast bogus votes as alleged by the ruling CPM-headed Left Democratic Front in Kasaragod constituency in the April 23 Lok Sabha polls.
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan Tuesday came out in support of the chief electoral officer and said the CEO was functioning within his legal framework.