Latest news with #EPICs
New Indian Express
2 days ago
- Politics
- New Indian Express
ECI initiates technical consultations on Aadhaar-Voter ID linking
PUDUCHERRY: The Election Commission of India (ECI) has begun technical consultations with UIDAI to explore the modalities of linking Aadhaar with Voter ID cards in a bid to streamline voter identification and prevent electoral fraud. 'This is basically to work out the modalities for the linking and make it seamless,' said P Pawan, Deputy Director (Media Wing), ECI, while addressing the media in Puducherry on Tuesday. As part of broader electoral reforms, Pawan highlighted the implementation of a new mechanism to identify and resolve duplicate entries in the Electoral Photo Identity Card (EPIC) database. 'Duplicate issues have been found and resolved in about 0.3% of the EPICs,' he stated. A major digital upgrade is also on the horizon with the rollout of ECINET, a new integrated dashboard designed to replace nearly 40 separate websites and applications currently used by the Commission.
Time of India
30-05-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
A house in Patna & web of immigrants buying fake IDs
Lucknow / Patna: The arrest of Afghan national Jandullah Dad Mohammad, 29, from Lucknow airport on May 22 has led the Bureau of Immigration sleuths to a house in Patna, the address of which was registered against several duplicate IDs. Intel agencies are working to confirm if Jandullah's chance arrest has helped them step on a major racket where fake IDs and forged documents, such as ration cards and voter IDs, were being made for illegal immigrants or even wanted criminals. Just five-minute walk from Patna Junction, Wakil Anwer House tucked in the congested lane off Jamal Road is home to about two dozen rooms. To the Election Commission of India (ECI) and intelligence agencies, the house is a curious anomaly—a hub of questionable identities, with electoral rolls showing eerie duplication of names, ages, and fathers' identities. ECI's consolidated electoral list, published on Jan 7, 2025, under a special summary revision, revealed the building has 12 male occupants, all in their 20s and 30s except one, with no women registered. Alarmingly, at least four of them shared identical details: Same age, same father's name (Kabir), and multiple Electoral Photo Identity Cards (EPICs). Electoral registration officer (ERO) Raghvendra Pratap Singh told TOI, "We were told by the occupants of the house that Jandullah had come to Patna some five years ago. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like 나이 들수록 안 빠지는 복부 내장지방 뱃살 쫙 빠지는 "이것" 신현재 중년 복부비만 개선 더 알아보기 Undo His supposed brother Mansur left for Dubai six months ago, and there's no information about their father, Kabir." The ERO has ordered cancellation of Mansur's and Mohammad Sher Khan's duplicate EPICs, noting, "One individual cannot have two EPICs." The remaining occupants claim their ancestors have lived in India for decades, working as daily wagers selling dry fruits, carpets, sarees, bangles, or shawls. Singh has demanded their documents to ascertain their nationality. Syed Akbar Ahmad, one of the property's owners, told TOI about its long-standing Afghan connection. "Jandullah's father came from Afghanistan many years ago. Five years ago, the son came, but I don't have any idea about their whereabouts," he said. "It never occurred to me that I should ask for rent agreement or their police verification as they had been living here for several years," Ahmad said. He claimed Afghan tenants have resided on his property for over 70 years, with some families dating back to their grandfathers' time. "The tenants who started living on my property several decades ago have never left or been replaced," he added. Shayab Khan, a tenant in his early 50s, said, "My grandfather migrated to Patna 70-80 years ago. I have all identity proofs as a resident of India, including Aadhaar card, voter card, driving licence, and other documents. I have voted in both assembly and parliamentary elections at least 15 times." Khan's claim aligns with the historical migration of Pashtuns from Afghanistan to India, particularly before 1947, when many settled in cities like Patna to engage in trade. But things seem to have changed. Jandullah's case points to a sophisticated document racket likely operating from Patna. After entering India on a six-day medical visa in Dec 2019, he vanished from Delhi's radar. By 2020, he had acquired a full suite of fake Indian IDs, passing himself off as Rehan from Kotwali Patna.
Time of India
15-05-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
EC issues fresh EPICs to 615 voters in state
1 2 3 Kolkata: The EC issued new EPICs to 615 voters in Bengal whose voter IDs were found to bear numbers identical to those of voters from other states. The issue of bogus voters and duplicate EPICs was recently highlighted by Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee. It was found that the EPICs of Bengal voters mostly matched with the EPICs issued to voters in Haryana. Some of the EPIC numbers even matched with those of Assam, an official added. The EC, in a press release earlier this week, stated that the number of voters with identical EPIC numbers was minuscule, as it was one in four polling booths. The official mentioned that it was found that while the voters were genuine, they somehow had received identical EPIC numbers. Therefore, the EC decided to withdraw their EPICs and issue fresh cards. The EC in Bengal also deleted the names of 7,800 voters whose names were found to be enrolled in other states as well. Most of them had shifted, which led to their names being deleted, the official said.
Indian Express
13-05-2025
- Politics
- Indian Express
EC issues new photo IDs to over 2.7 lakh electors
The Election Commission has issued new Electors Photo Identity Cards (EPIC) to around 2.75 lakh electors across the country who were found to have the same EPIC numbers as electors in other states, EC sources said Tuesday. The TMC had in March raised concerns over some voters in West Bengal having the same Voter ID numbers as electors in other states. On March 7, the EC had said that some states had not used the correct alphanumeric series when issuing EPICs, causing the duplication. 'The Commission has now decided to resolve this long pending issue after detailed discussions within the technical teams and concerned CEOs in the next three months by ensuring a unique national EPIC number to the existing electors having a duplicate EPIC number and for future electors as well,' the EC had said. EC sources said the process was now complete. The EC's database of over 99 crore electors was searched by the Chief Electoral Officers of all 36 states and UTs, which led to the duplicates being detected. When officials carried out the field verification, it was found that all the electors with duplicate IDs were genuine electors, they said. In the states where the wrong series was used, around 2.75 lakh electors with duplicate EPIC numbers were given new voter IDs with new numbers, as per a source. The electors in whose states the correct series was used continue to have the same IDs. The issue had been traced back to 2005 and had affected almost all states, it is learnt. The EC had earlier said even if the electors had the same EPIC numbers, they could only cast their votes in the constituencies where they are enrolled.
Hindustan Times
01-05-2025
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
Issue of duplicate voter IDs resolved in several states
The Election Commission of India (ECI) has resolved all instances of duplicate Voter ID cards ( Elector Photo Identity Cards, EPICs) across several states, according to the people familiar with the matter. Such duplicate EPICs were identified by state, corrected, and then reissued, ECI officials asking not to be named said. While the cards have new numbers they also include the old EPIC numbers, in a bid to avoid any confusion where old numbers might still be referenced, the officials added. 'This was a legacy issue. Approximately , 300,000 EPICs have been rectified; 75% of these duplicates were issued before 2008 in a specific alphanumeric series. We have ensured that voters received the new cards and haver completed the process well before our three-month deadline of June,' one of them said. The issue came to light in March, when opposition parties including the Trinamool Congress flagged the issue, accusing ECI of voter fraud and manipulation. The commission responded by clarifying that 'duplicate EPICs did not imply fake voters', adding that voters can only vote at the polling station in which they are registered, regardless of the EPIC number. Officials explained the way some EPICs across states sported identical numbers. 'Before all state electoral roll databases were shifted to ERONET–a web-based platform used to manage electoral roll data–many states conducted these operations manually and in a decentralised manner. As a result, some states used the same alphanumeric series, leading to duplication,' the first official added. To be sure, the ECI is yet to address the issue of so-called repeat EPICs– where multiple voter ID cards have been given to the same elector, officials said. Sources said the Commission currently uses systems based on Demographically Similar Entries (DSEs) and Photographically Similar Entries (PSEs) to detect potential duplicates. DSEs match voter details such as name, relation name and type, age, and gender, while PSEs analyse photographs. 'Both DSEs and PSEs are identified using deep learning technology within the ERONET platform. These can be used to detect and delete duplicates within or across constituencies in a state. However, the process is extremely time-consuming and has not been carried out on a pan-India scale due to scalability challenges,' a second ECI official said.
