669 cases of voter impersonation recorded across Punjab

Data sourced from the Punjab Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) showed that out of 669 voter impersonators, the maximum was reported from Anandpur Sahib LS constituency, where 549 tender votes were reported in Kharar assembly constituency and 20 in SAS Nagar assembly segment.

They were followed by Amritsar LS with 61 tender votes including 20 each from Attari, Amritsar East and Majitha assembly segments and 1 from Amritsar South. Twenty such cases reported from Fatehgarh Sahib LS, 5 from Bathinda and 3 from Sangrur, 2 each from Jalandhar and Faridkot, 1 each from Khadoor Sahib, Hoshiarpur, Firozpur, and Patiala.

The Election Commission website states that if a registered elector, after signing or putting their thumb impression on the Register of Voters, “decides not to record his/her vote, he/she shall not be forced to…A remark to the effect…shall be made in the remarks column against the entry relating to him/her in the Register of Voters by the presiding officer…under Rule 49 O of the Conduct of Elections Rules, 1961…”

Electors who do not wish to vote also have the option of pressing the None Of The Above (NOTA) on the EVM.

Data sourced from the CEO office shows that Gurdaspur Lok Sabha Constituency has topped the chart in this category where 81 voters had refused to vote under Rule 49 O, which included 75 voters from Gurdaspur assembly segment and 5 from Dina Nagar Assembly segment.

In Amritsar LS constituency, 20 electors refused to vote in Majitha assembly constituency while 17, 12 and 11 voters refused to vote in Patiala, Firozpur and Anandpur Sahib LS constituencies respectively. There were three each in Fatehgarh Sahib and Faridkot LS, two in Muktsar.

Apart from this, Sangrur, Khadur Sahib, Jalandhar and Hoshiarpur LS had one such voter each.

NOTA results will come after counting of votes.

The Punjab CEO also released an age-wise voter list on Tuesday, according to which 50.25 per cent of the state’s voters is below the age group of 40 years.

According to this list, there are 20781211 voters in Punjab, out of which 10442665 are aged between 18 and 39 years, 71,59001 are between 40 and 60 years (34.44 per cent). A total of .02 per cent are aged 100 and above, while 13 per cent are between 61 to 80 years, and 1.5 per cent are between 81 and 90 years.