Election Commission on Backfoot on Duplicate EPIC Numbers

For long, the Election Commission of India (ECI) has been able to fend off allegations levelled by opposition parties of not ensuring transparency and fairness in holding elections over the past one decade. But this time it finds itself with its back to the wall over duplicate Election Photo Identity Card (EPIC) numbers, detected and made public by West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s party Trinamool Congress (TMC).

When TMC showed mirror to it, the Commission was taken aback, but pooh-poohed the party’s charge of manipulation in the voters’ list. But the party continued its onslaught and came up with more charges, throwing the rule book at it. The chief minister alleged that certain EPIC numbers in the state were linked to voters living in other states. She further contended that it had happened with the "connivance" of the Commission.

The issue came to light during the verification of voters’ IDs of migrant labourers by some of their hirers. It was found that EPIC numbers of some of these workers were identical with those of some of the voters of West Bengal. TMC picked up the leads and panned it out. Chief Minister directed party workers to verify the EPIC of voters in their respective localities. She alleged that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the ECI were conspiring to overthrow her government with “fake voters” in the Assembly elections to be held next year.

The Commission dismissed the charges saying that duplication might have occurred due to the decentralised system for allotting EPIC numbers before it was shifted to a centralised database on its web-based system for electoral officials – ERONET. The numbers may be the same but other details will ensure that voters vote in the constituencies and at booths as mentioned in their cards, it added.

The ECI blamed the earlier manual method by which the EPIC numbers were allotted to voters for the discrepancy resulting in some voters getting allotted the same EPIC numbers. But the TMC rebutted the Commission’s clarifications that voters having the same alphanumeric numbers do not result in fake voters. TMC Rajya Sabha Member Saket Gokhale accused the Commission of covering up the matter. EPIC numbers are a sequence of three letters and seven digits. The Commission's Manual on Electoral Rolls, March 2023, clearly says that three letters are different for different constituencies, the party claimed.

Meanwhile, the ECI thereafter backtracked on its stand of entirely denying the allegations. It contended that EPIC number is not the only criterion for verification of the voters’ credentials. It said that it is a “long pending issue”, and will “fix the matter in three months”. And now the ECI has sought suggestions from all political parties later this month “for any unresolved issues…”

Opposition parties do not want to let the opportunity go. They took up the matter in both Houses of Parliament demanding a debate but the Chair disallowed it. They allege that similarity in the numbers of different voter ID cards is a "conspiracy" of ‘epic’ proportions. EPIC is allotted by the Electoral Registration Officer to voters registered in the electoral rolls of the Assembly Constituency under him for establishing their identities during polling.

The Commission uses Electoral Rolls Management System (ERMS) for assignment of duties for verification by booth level officers, preparation, correction in and monitoring of electoral rolls and EPIC preparation by Electoral Registration Officers. It is a conglomeration of a number of IT applications developed by the Election Commission. As per the ECI manual of 2023: “Every EPIC is issued under a unique EPIC Number. EPIC Number is an alphanumeric string with 3 alphabetical codes followed by a seven-digit number. While the first 3 alphabetical Codes, called the Functional Unique Serial Number (FUSN) code, is unique for every Assembly Constituency, the numeric code that follows the FUSN code is a six-digit running serial number followed by one digit checksum making a total of seven digits.”

It further says: “An EPIC once issued to an elector shall remain valid during the lifetime of the elector even if he/she shifts his/her residence.”

Additionally, the ECI explains, “A Unique EPIC Number is allotted to every elector when EPIC is issued. If a replacement takes place for any reason, the replacement card will continue to bear the unique number assigned to the elector in the original EPIC.”

Importantly, the Commission says that ERONET facilitates easy migration from one constituency to another by facilitating seamless communication between the Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) of two constituencies. Thus, there can be migration from one constituency to another while retaining the same EPIC number. But opposition parties are claiming that identical EPIC numbers on two different voter cards is a political design of epic proportions. The Commission has categorically dismissed the forgery allegation, stating that even if there is duplication in EPIC numbers, voters from other states cannot enter West Bengal en masse and cast their votes for a particular party when assembly elections are held in the state next year.

Yet, TMC leadership goes on claiming that the ECI has included names of “fake voters” in the electoral list. They allege that after Maharashtra and Delhi, these “fake voters” will come to West Bengal to tilt the mandate against TMC. The party alleges that identical EPIC numbers help such voters to infiltrate from adjoining states during elections and cast bogus votes in favour of the BJP. 

The question arises: Can a voter with an identical EPIC number as another cast his mandate in place of that voter? Denying it, the Commission contends it is practically impossible to resort to a such fraud, since it entails changing all details on the voter card, even in the voters’ list. But it leads to another question: whether the EPIC number is supposed to be unique as it appears from the ECI document, or are other details more important? The Commission answers: “the EPIC is only an identity document and mere holding of an EPIC does not give any individual the right to vote. This right is available only to those whose names are found in the electoral rolls. EPIC only establishes the identity of those whose names are there in the Electoral Roll.”

In recent years, the Commission has not covered its functioning with glory with the opposition parties levelling a series of allegations. Being a Constitutional body, it is imperative that it is seen to be performing its mandated functions impartially.