Thiruvananthapuram: In an effort to cut down on bogus voting during the Kerala Legislative Assembly, the electoral authorities have decided to ask for two personal identity cards if any voter's name has been found duplicated on the electoral list.
Such voters may also be asked to give their thumb impression apart from the mandatory signature by the polling officers on duty at the voting centres.
In another unusual step, the photograph of the voter casting the vote too would be taken. The photograph would be retained by the presiding officer at the polling booth.
These unprecedented steps to curtail electoral fraud during the voting on April 6 come in the wake of the online publication of an exhaustive list containing the names of likely bogus voters. The dedicated website that helps to identify the names of likely bogus voters constituency- and polling booth-wise went live at midnight.
Voters can cross-check if their names, images and identity card number have been fraudulently used by visiting the website www.operationtwins.com.
The Opposition claimed that the website has so far put out a list of 4.34 lakh double votes discovered by way of data analytics.
Opposition Leader Ramesh Chennithala had announced the launch of the website on Wednesday.
Nadapuram constituency has the most number of double votes - 6,171. The figure is 1,600 in Dharmadom, the constituency of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. The count of double votes in Haripad, Chennithala's constituency, is 1,015, the website reveals.
The easy-to-use interface of the site enables the public to access the constituency-wise details uploaded on the site.
The suspect names have been categorised for each legislative assembly constituency separately. The list has two main categories: duplicated votes with same photographs and same constituency as well as duplicated votes with same photographs in the neighbouring constituency.
The voter's name and identity number at one booth number have been paired with the name(s) or similar name(s), and voter identity number(s) in another booth or in another nearby constituency.
The information on the site is being updated and it will be revised until the election is over.
All voters who are set to exercise their franchise have been urged to verify if their electoral details have been misused. The office of the Opposition Leader has urged all public workers and voters to utilise the website and thereby try to minimise the chances of bogus voting.
This is an unprecedented disclosure that has been unheard of in India's electoral history.
The staff organisations affiliated to the CPM are behind the incorporation of bogus entries, Chennithala claimed. He also demanded the Election Commission to discharge its duties.
