Door-to-door verification of suggestions underway, BMC calls for administrative review before physical inspection of duplicate name verification

“In the review meeting, the Additional Municipal Commissioner directed officials to focus on physical verification of the suggestions and objections received from citizens. For the deletion of the duplicate voters’ name, meanwhile, AMC has informed administration to complete a review within the office before going into the field. The administration has been directed to verify the EPIC number, age, address and other details through a screening tool before conducting field visits to verify the duplicate names. The directives have been issued in light of the fact that the number of duplicate names is much higher while the suggestions and objections are limited and therefore, easier to verify,” said a BMC official.

Data from the civic body shows that between November 20 and Wednesday the BMC received 7,452 suggestions and objections received until Wednesday morning. Of this, the highest (1820) complaints have been raised in M/west ward which encompasses Chembur, followed by 1587 suggestions and objections in N ward (Ghatkopar).

Meanwhile, the State Election Commission’s data showed that there are 4.33 lakh voters whose names have been enrolled in the voters’ list more than once. Records show that with each of the 4.4 lakh voters having their names enrolled between two to 103 times, the total number of duplicate enrolment of names stands at 11.01 lakh. With the city having a total of 1.03 crore total voters, the data reveals that nearly 10.64 percent voters have duplicate enrolment in the list.

After the SEC data came to light, the BMC kicked off a drive to delete the duplicate names from the voters’ list.

While the civic body has been asked to focus on administrative work for deletion of duplicate voters, AMC Joshi directed officials to continue physical inspection of suggestions and objections with adequate coordination. Calling officials to execute election duties with utmost seriousness, Joshi said notices will be issued to staffers who refuse to execute the work.

The final ward-wise list of voters is likely to be published on December 10, with the final polling station wise voters’ list slated to be released on December 22.