The Congress on Monday launched a broadside against the Election Commission of India (ECI), saying the existence of multiple voters with Electors Photo Identity Cards (EPICs) bearing the same numbers was to aid the ruling party and thwart the idea of free and fair elections.

On Monday, the ECI had admitted the truth of Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s allegation that several voters in different parts of India had EPIcs with the same numbers.

In a statement on Monday, the Congress’s election watchdog Empowered Action Group of Leaders and Experts (EAGLE) said: “Multiple voters having the same voter id number is as bizarre as multiple vehicles bearing the same registration number in the country. It is unheard of in any electoral democracy.”

EAGLE also reiterated the Congress’ claims of anomalous voter
registration in Maharashtra last year, which it claimed were
fraudulent and those additional electors were likely to have voted for the BJP, which won the Assembly polls there.

EAGLE added: “When confronted with proof of same voter id number used by multiple voters, the Election Commission initially responded claiming that a voter id number may be the same across states, but it is unique to a particular state. Even that turned out to be a blatant lie as there are cases of the same voter id number used by several voters in the same state and in the same constituency. After this was pointed out, there has been pin drop silence.”

“It is elementary knowledge that a person who can legally migrate to any state of the country must have a unique voter id number throughout the country. The Election Commission cannot feign ignorance or incompetence in this matter. It is a deliberate act of voter list manipulation to aid the ruling party and thwart the idea of free and fair elections.”

The current edition of the ECI’s Manual on Electoral Rolls says: “... 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 and is provided by the Election Commission, 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.”