Why can't EC be more transparent: Stalin
'On July 17, 2025 we requested the EC to delete the names of deceased voters from the rolls by undertaking the exercise contemplated in its May 1 notification. When will this be done?' Stalin asked in a post made on X.
The DMK MPs had met the election officials at Nirvachan Sadan and called for deletion of names of dead voters from the existing rolls, along with an appeal to consider Aadhaar and ration cards as proof of birth and place of residence among others.
A day after the full bench of the EC, led by the chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, addressed a news conference to answer the questions raised by the opposition INDIA bloc, Stalin said the exercise raised more questions than answers to the issues highlighted by the opposition.
'How can there be so many deletions of eligible voters when house-to-house enumeration was undertaken?' Stalin asked in a post on X. 'The enrolment of new voters is abnormally low. Were these young voters enumerated? Has any database been compiled to show how many youngsters who turned 18 on the qualifying date were included?'
The Tamil Nadu chief minister also asked the EC if its objective was to hold fair elections, why it can't be 'more transparent' and 'voter-friendly'?
Stalin said the enquiry and appeal process as decided by the Registration of Electors Rules 1960 could lead to exclusion of a huge number of voters in Bihar after the Special Intensive Revision (SIR).
'Is the EC going to address this issue? Will the EC take these practical difficulties into account while conducting SIR in other states?' he asked.
The EC's demand for affidavits to be filed for every complaint related to the poll process was countered by the Samajwadi Party chief and Kannauj MP Akhilesh Yadav.
'The EC keeps saying that they have not received any of the affidavits filed by the Samajwadi Party. They can look at the receipts that the election office had sent to us. Now we demand that the EC file an affidavit that the digital receipts are legitimate. Otherwise, like the EC, Digital India too would come under a cloud,' Akhilesh said.
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