Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh's Chief Electoral Officer has ordered legal action against two serving and former Electoral Registration Officers, and the dismissal of a computer assistant, after irregularities were detected in 10,470 voter entries in the Pilibhit Assembly constituency.
Officials said on Thursday that searching the EPIC (voter identity card) numbers of certain electors online had thrown up details of other voters in the constituency. The list was examined after the complaint.
Voter-roll entries are the base of the Lok Sabha and Assembly election process. The errors surfacing after the final revision stage have raised questions about the poll machinery's work.
The CEO's office said that along with legal action against those found at fault, the process of correcting the roll has begun. The entries in question are being verified and amended.
Uttar Pradesh is expected to hold its Assembly election in 2027, which is why all parties are watching the accuracy of the rolls closely. Opposition parties have raised the issue of roll errors before.
The Pilibhit case is being seen as an example of large-scale technical failure in the roll process. The Election Commission has issued strict instructions to the machinery to prevent such errors.
According to officials, action against those responsible is under way, and further entries will be examined in the coming days.
Under the Election Commission's process, corrections, additions and deletions to the voter roll are carried out in fixed stages. Once the final roll is published, only limited changes are possible, which is why the accuracy of entries rests on the machinery. In the Pilibhit case, officials said the entries are being verified and corrected. Voters are advised to check the details on their identity cards.