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The Wire
16 hours ago
- Politics
- The Wire
NGO Alleges ‘Statistical Purge' in Challenge to EC's 65 Lakh Deletions from Bihar Draft Rolls
Visakhapatnam: The Election Commission (EC) is facing a legal and procedural challenge over its decision to remove approximately 65 lakh voters from Bihar's electoral rolls following a month-long 'special intensive revision' (SIR). A Maharashtra-based civil society group, Vote for Democracy (VFD), has presented a report to the Supreme Court alleging the exercise was a "statistical purge" riddled with anomalies. The EC maintains that the process was a transparent and successful clean-up of the rolls, conducted with "overwhelming participation" from electors. The revision, the first of its kind in Bihar since 2003, concluded with 7.24 crore voters re-affirming their eligibility and 65 lakh (8.31% of the electorate) marked for deletion. A one-month period for claims and objections to the draft rolls, published on August 1, is currently underway. The VFD's report, titled " Dysfunctional ECI and Weaponisation of India's Election System" alleges that the EC's own daily data reveals patterns that are logistically and statistically improbable. The analysis points to several anomalies, including: Sudden data surges: The number of "untraceable" voters reportedly surged by 771% in 24 hours between July 22 and July 23. The number of "permanently shifted" voters increased by over 15 lakh in three days (July 21-24), while the number of identified "deceased" electors jumped by 2,11,462 in a single day, an outcome the report deems logistically impossible. Data discrepancies: On July 22-23, the VFD analysis notes that for every one new enumeration form received from the field, more than four voters were identified for removal, suggesting the deletion process operated independently of form collection. Opaque reporting: The report claims that as deletion numbers increased, the ECI's reporting became less granular, with precise figures being rounded off or grouped under a single "Merged Data" heading after July 22. Static figures: Between July 14 and July 17, figures for "probably deceased" and "probably permanently shifted" remained completely static, which the report argues is improbable for a dynamic, real-time field exercise. The VFD report also raises concerns about the potential disproportionate impact on vulnerable populations, identifying "hotspot districts" with deletion rates far exceeding the state average. These include Gopalganj (15.10%), Purnia (12.08%), Kishanganj (11.82%) and Madhubani (10.44%), areas with large migrant labourer and minority populations. Meanwhile, in its official communications, the EC has described the SIR as a necessary and structured process to update rolls that have seen significant changes over 20 years. The commission states the goal was to ensure "no eligible citizen is left out while no ineligible person is included". According to the EC, the 65 lakh voters who did not submit enumeration forms and were excluded from the draft rolls fall into three categories: 36 lakh permanently shifted or not found (4.59%), 22 lakh deceased (2.83%) and seven lakh enrolled in multiple places (0.89%). The EC's stated procedure involved door-to-door visits from nearly one lakh booth-level officers between June 25 and July 26. The commission also emphasised the involvement of political parties, stating that lists of unverified electors were shared with 12 major parties on July 20 for their booth-level agents to review. The EC asserts that the current claims and objections period, which runs until September 1, constitutes due process and that "no deletion will be made without due inquiry and providing the concerned person a fair hearing". As of August 15, two weeks into the period, the EC reported that 28,370 claims and objections had been received directly from electors. The final electoral roll for the 2025 state assembly elections is scheduled to be published on September 30. The resolution of the conflicting accounts presented by the EC and VFD now rests with the commission's internal appellate process and the Supreme Court.
The Hindu
a day ago
- Politics
- The Hindu
Major irregularities in 2024 Maharashtra Assembly polls, claims Vote for Democracy report
Vote for Democracy (VFD), a civic action group led by distinguished experts, has released a constituency-level analysis of Maharashtra's 288 Assembly seats, highlighting serious anomalies in the November 2024 election. The report, titled 'Dysfunctional ECI and Weaponisation of India's Election System', draws on official Election Commission of India (ECI) and Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) data as well as accounts from polling staff and voters, raising questions about transparency and accountability. The civic group is guided by election experts M.G. Devasahayam, IAS (retired), Coordinator of Citizens' Commission on Elections; Professor Pyara Lal Garg, former Dean, Panjab University; Madhav Deshpande, specialist in computer software and architecture, and Professor Harish Karnick, former Professor, Computer Science, IIT-Kanpur. Systemic vulnerabilities The report released on Saturday (August 16, 2025) states that the 'weaponisation' of India's electoral system lies in the vulnerabilities of four components of the electronic voting process — microchips that record votes, Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trails (VVPATs), Symbol Loading Units (SLUs), and electoral rolls. According to VFD, the system has ceased to be standalone since 2017 and is now linked to the internet, making it susceptible to manipulation. It further alleges that the ECI's methods of managing voter rolls have created large-scale disenfranchisement, cumulatively posing a serious threat to electoral democracy. VFD notes that in the November 2024 polls, Maharashtra recorded a sudden late-night surge in turnout. At 5 p.m., voter turnout stood at 58.22%, but by midnight it had risen to 66.05%, a jump of 7.83%, which amounted to about 48 lakh extra votes. The sharpest increases were recorded in Nanded, Jalgaon, Hingoli, Solapur, Beed, and Dhule, where double-digit spikes were observed, even though historically such late surges have been minimal. The report also points out that several seats were decided by very narrow margins, with 25 seats won by fewer than 3,000 votes and 69 seats by fewer than 10,000 votes, suggesting that even small anomalies could have changed outcomes. Erratic changes The study highlights erratic changes in the electoral roll between the May 2024 Lok Sabha elections and the November 2024 Assembly polls. In just six months, the rolls expanded by more than 46 lakh voters, concentrated across 12,000 polling booths in 85 constituencies, predominantly in areas where the BJP had lost in the parliamentary elections. Some booths reportedly added more than 600 voters after 5 p.m., which would have implied an additional ten hours of polling that did not occur in reality. Official records also showed discrepancies, with the ECI reporting over 9.64 crore voters on August 30, 2024, while the CEO of Maharashtra reported 9.53 crore for the same date. Within weeks, these numbers fluctuated sharply, with a sudden increase of over 16 lakh voters between October 15 and October 30, 2024. According to the report, the data mismatches between 2019 and 2024 are also significant. In 2019, Maharashtra's voter rolls for the Assembly polls were larger than those for the Lok Sabha polls by about 11.6 lakh voters, while votes polled increased by 8.4 lakh between the two elections. In 2024, however, the discrepancy was far higher, with rolls growing by nearly 40 lakh voters between the Lok Sabha and Assembly polls and votes polled increasing by more than 71 lakh in the same period. The report notes that voter rolls grew by 71.8 lakh between the 2019 and 2024 Assembly elections, while votes polled jumped by 96.7 lakh, a rise not explained by demographic trends. The report further observes sudden and disproportionate vote surges that benefited specific parties. In the Lok Sabha elections held in May 2024, the BJP averaged about 88,713 votes per Assembly segment, whereas in the Assembly elections in November the average rose to 1,16,064 votes per seat, reflecting a sudden gain of 28,000 votes per seat without corresponding demographic growth. For example, in Kamthi, the Congress vote remained at about 1.35 lakh while the BJP gained 56,000 votes, and in Karad (South) the tally rose by 41,000 votes in just six months, a change not seen in five years. In Nanded, the Congress won the parliamentary seat but lost all six Assembly segments in the same area, receiving 1.59 lakh fewer votes despite simultaneous polling. In high-profile seats VFD also draws attention to high-profile anomalies, such as the addition of 29,219 voters in Nagpur South-West in six months, exceeding the ECI's 4% verification threshold, with local booth officials admitting incomplete checks. In Solapur's Markadwadi village, residents alleged that the EVM results did not reflect the actual votes cast, while police blocked a mock poll using paper ballots. The report mentions several procedural and technical concerns, including the presence of routers near polling stations, sudden power cuts during counting, late arrival of EVMs at strong rooms, failures of CCTV surveillance, mismatches between Form 17C records and control unit counts, unexplained EVM battery readings, and alleged breaches of strong rooms. It questions whether the ECI has independent control over the EVM source code and highlights potential conflicts of interest, noting that BJP members sit on the boards of ECIL and BEL, the manufacturers of EVMs. Amending ECI rules Concerns were also raised about data secrecy and legal changes curtailing scrutiny. In December 2024, the ECI amended Rule 93 of the Conduct of Election Rules to restrict access to CCTV footage and Form 17C, just days after a court ordered their release in another State's polls. In May 2025, the retention period for CCTV footage was reduced from one year to 45 days, allowing evidence to be destroyed before legal challenges could proceed. Despite 100% webcasting of polling stations, neither video footage nor VVPAT slips are available for public verification. The report further says that over 100 complaints of hate speech were filed during the Maharashtra polls, including against specific leaders, but no visible action was taken by the ECI. VFD concludes that the scale, precision, and constituency-specific targeting of these anomalies point to a structured pattern of electoral manipulation rather than administrative error. It warns that Maharashtra's 2024 Assembly elections serve as a case study of how India's election system can be weaponised, and calls the findings a warning for future polls across the country. Call for decentralisation The organisation has demanded that the voter system be decentralised, with the ECI conducting only parliamentary and presidential elections while State Election Commissions conduct Assembly and local polls. It has also called for a forensic audit of EVMs, VVPATs, and voter rolls, public release of machine-readable rolls and election records, reversal of restrictive amendments to Rule 93, and legislative guarantees for end-to-end vote verifiability.
CBS News
4 days ago
- General
- CBS News
Vacaville Fire Department drops firefighter certificate requirement to join ranks
If you want to become a firefighter for the city of Vacaville, it's never been easier. The Vacaville Fire Department (VFD) no longer mandates a major requirement to join their firefighting crew: the Firefighter 1 certificate. Candidates usually have to first go to a community college or fire academy to complete the training and get the certificate before applying. That step is now eliminated in the effort to recruit more candidates. However, it doesn't mean the VFD firefighters are any less qualified. "We've raised the bar in this department over the last few years. We are actually able to give them that same certificate they'd get somewhere else, and give them that here," Captain Matt Moreno said. The reason they can drop the requirement is that the department can now provide the 20-week Firefighter 1 certification starting day one on the job for new hires. Early next year, VFD will host its first-ever fire training academy. "Giving them the training here, we think we can give them the best training possible. They will learn the Vacaville way," Moreno said. It's possible because of the department's dedication to building a "training culture" where there is always something to learn. In addition, they built a training facility on site at Station 73, where practice makes perfect all year long. "We've got windows here that we can breach and practice entering structures," said Moreno, showing CBS13 the training facility. "We're so much more prepared now." Thanks to the facility, they can practice forced entry into a makeshift home, drag hoses through hallways and through furniture, jump through windows to reach a trapped family and get real-world training through fire simulations that are as close to the real thing as it gets. "A couple of years ago, this was a gravel lot. We had to make up our training through parking lots and imagine we were doing certain things," said Moreno. "We are now able to see the difference. We are a stronger team, we are a more dedicated department and we are a safer community." They're working to hire eight firefighter paramedics. The new model is a recruitment win as first responder careers see a decline in interest. "We're seeing now, out of high school, most of the influence is toward anything working remotely, or social media influencing," Moreno said. This career calling is about more than just clocking in. It's keeping your community safe. "Public safety jobs aren't as sought after anymore. What we are trying to do is really recruit, show people you can make a difference in your community, we are gonna train you up, give you everything you need. We're gonna treat you like family," Moreno said. Applicants still need a paramedic license and can learn more about the position on the city's website.
CBS News
10-06-2025
- Climate
- CBS News
Vacaville Fire ignites controlled burns on hillside to teach, practice wildfire response
VACAVILLE -- Smoke seen across Vacaville near Browns Valley Parkway on Monday was no cause for alarm. In fact, it marked the fourth and final wildland fire training operation for the Vacaville Fire Department (VFD) as they prepare for fire season. The training took place on Callen Hill as crews practiced mobile attack tactics with fire engines and rigs mobilizing up the hillside as crews intentionally set controlled fires and immediately worked to put them out. Vacaville Fire Department works to extinguish a controlled burn during wildland fire training on Monday, June 9. CBS Sacramento Other crews were on standby as a backup in the event the flames got out of control, which did not happen Monday. "Today is mainly for our academy recruits to get some sets and reps with the mobile attack and firing operations," said firefighter Brian Jewell, VFD spokesperson. The mission teaches best practices to firefighters in training and helps veteran crew members brush up on their skills. Fire engineer Brian Buathier takes CBS13 inside the "mobile attack unit." "It's a slower scale for them to learn how to read the fire, how to read the winds, watch the smoke. Different techniques of extinguishing the grass fires out here," said Jewell. During the training, fire engineer Brian Buathier allowed CBS13 to tag along in his rig as he moved up the hillside, feeding hose to the crews on the fire line and controlling their water pressure. "My job, I'm moving along with the fire. I'm following the crews. They dictate how fast I go here," said Buathier from the driver's seat. "This, it just goes a lot faster than doing a hose lay." The crews on the fire line are both extinguishing and igniting the flames, a teaching moment that was the first time recruit Noah Lauser-Jones came face-to-face with wildland fire. "So, it's good to kind of get your hands on instead of just training. You're able to actually see it through," said Lauser-Jones, feeling accomplished after the training mission. This type of firefight is rare, considering these crews can control the fire from start to finish. "A real wildfire, we can't pick and choose the winds. We can't pick and choose the terrain," said Jewell. Still, they have to be ready at a moment's notice, even during training. "These firefighters out here training right now could leave here, fill their units with water and get called to a real wildland fire within minutes," said Jewell. The goal: readying their response for when Mother Nature takes the reins. The mission also kills two birds with one stone, reducing dry brush on Callen Hill. "The training is priceless, but we are also getting rid of the dry fuels up on this hill, it's extremely windy. A north wind could push any fire on this hill over into the mobile home park, multi-family dwellings. If we don't burn up this fuel in a controlled setting, the possibility of an uncontrolled fire coming over and causing serious damage, loss of life is always there," said Jewell. VFD ended the controlled burn earlier than scheduled on Monday due to forecast high winds later in the day. The final session wraps up a week of four total training burns for the department.
Yahoo
24-05-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Authorities respond to deadly rollover on Highway 67 in Morgan County, road closed
MORGAN COUNTY, Ala. (WHNT) — The Morgan County Sheriff's Office said authorities are responding to a deadly wreck on Highway 67 Saturday. MCSO said deputies and EMS/VFD are responding to a deadly rollover wreck on Highway 67 at Mountain Top/ Julian Road in the Ryan Crossroads area. The department said Highway 67 is currently shut down and drivers should expect delays. There is no word on when the roadway will reopen. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
