Lapses in voters’ list: Professionals’ Congress in Kozhikode files plaint with poll panel

The Kozhikode district committee of the All-India Professionals’ Congress has filed a complaint with the State Election Commission claiming that the draft voters’ list published ahead of the local body polls in the Kozhikode Corporation has serious lapses.

Christy Perayil and Saif Thaikkandy, district president and district secretary respectively of the organisation, said in a release on Wednesday that over 1,600 duplicate entries were found in a preliminary examination. Similar electoral photo identity card numbers were found to have been given to many persons in various booths and wards. This had been done by making small changes in names, age, and addresses. The names of many dead persons were found in many wards, and some voters were shifted from one ward to another, they added.

In a letter to the Commission, they demanded that all duplicate entries and names of deceased individuals be removed from the list. Ward and booth reassignments should be re-examined to prevent arbitrary shifting of voters and a revised voters’ list should be published only after necessary corrections.