Uttar Pradesh election officials face action over voter list irregularities

The Uttar Pradesh Chief Electoral Officer has initiated legal and departmental actions against several officials following the discovery of significant irregularities in electoral rolls across multiple districts.

In Pilibhit, authorities found 10,470 irregular voter entries in the assembly constituency. An inquiry revealed that a computer assistant approved thousands of Form-8 applications for detail changes without any supporting physical records. Consequently, the assistant has been dismissed, and two Electoral Registration Officers face legal action and departmental proceedings.

In Azamgarh, the Samajwadi Party raised concerns regarding the name ‘Vikas Yadav’ appearing multiple times in the voter list. An investigation determined that while 13 entries existed, 11 actually belonged to different individuals. However, due to negligence and lack of supervision, notices have been issued to five officials, including Booth Level Officers and computer assistants, under the Representation of the People Act, 1950.

Additionally, software translation errors during the digitization of the Allahabad-Jhansi Graduates constituency resulted in 158 abnormal entries, such as names being translated into phrases like ‘Ram hit Yadav’.

Separately, the Election Commission has ordered a re-poll at three polling stations in the Agra Division Teachers’ Constituency on October 26, after declaring previous voting void due to illegal activities and irregularities.