Lucknow, Oct 30 The Uttar Pradesh Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) has sought clarification from the Pilibhit district election officer and the former DEO over approval of more than 10,000 erroneous forms, an official statement said.
“An investigation into the issue of details of another voter being displayed against the EPIC numbers of a large number of registered voters in the voter list of 127-Pilibhit Assembly Constituency in Pilibhit district has revealed that a total of 13,779 forms were erroneously entered between May 31, 2026, and August 29, 2026. Out of this, 10,470 erroneous forms were approved,” UP CEO Navdeep Rinwa said in a post on X in Hindi.
Considering the matter with utmost seriousness, in light of the duties and responsibilities of DEOs as outlined in the Representation of the People Act, 1950, and the Manual on Electoral Rolls, 2023, clarification has been sought from the DEO and the former DEO of Pilibhit district in this regard.
Maintaining accuracy and reliability of the voter list is a crucial responsibility of the DEOs. Upon detection of any error or irregularity in the voter list, necessary action will be ensured according to the rules, the X post said.
Earlier, the UP CEO had directed officials to scrutinise all voter registration forms entered by computer assistants since April 10, when SIR concluded, warning of action against electoral registration officers (EROs) and other officials if irregularities were found in the electoral rolls.
The directions were issued during a virtual meeting with divisional commissioners, DEOs, EROs, assistant EROs (AEROs) and computer assistants on October 24, ahead of preparations for the Special Summary Revision (SSR) of electoral rolls, according to an official statement.
Rinwa directed that all Forms 6, 7 and 8 entered by computer assistants since the conclusion of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) on April 10 be scrutinised to prevent a recurrence of incidents such as the one reported in Pilibhit.
The UP Congress on October 21 had alleged large-scale manipulation of electoral rolls in Pilibhit Sadar Assembly constituency, claiming that names of 13,150 voters were changed while their EPIC and serial numbers remained the same.
The CEO had warned that EROs, AEROs and computer assistants would be held accountable for such irregularities, with action under Section 32 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950.
“District election officers would also be held responsible for lax supervision,” the statement said.
Divisional commissioners, designated as roll observers, were directed to intensively monitor electoral roll-related work in their respective districts. Negligence in supervision would invite action against the officials concerned.
Rinwa also ordered that computer assistants must not be assigned the task of entering applications received in physical form.
“All such forms must be digitised by booth level officers (BLOs) through the BLO App,” he said.
(PTI News)
