Mass deletion of voters detected in Mokokchung

DIMAPUR — A case of alleged mass deletion of voters under Changtongya jurisdiction in Mokokchung district has surfaced, and according to RTI activists Odi Jamir and S T Yapang Lkr, this is not the first such instance.

The case came to light when the name of one voter, Yapang Lkr’s sister-in-law, was found missing. Her name was present during the 2023 general election e-roll publication. However, in the e-roll publication on October 27, 2023, her name was missing from the voter list.

When the case of the deletion of her name from the voter list with the block level officer (BLO) was investigated, it was discovered that not only she but a total of 402 voters had been deleted. According to RTI activists, voters were removed without a valid reason.

Subsequently, they filed an RTI for inspection on December 12, 2023 and the date for inspection was scheduled for either January 8 or 9, 2024. However, on January 9, during the inspection, the reason for the voter deletion could not be ascertained.

The RTI response received on the day of the inspection stated that on November 23, 2023, Mokokchung DC and DEO received a letter from the Chief Election Officer’s office containing cases of 9,737 photo similar entries (PSE) for identification.

Such cases are assigned to the appropriate BLOs, who then submit the report via the Garuda App after verification. The electoral registration officer (ERO) takes action based on the reports sent by BLOs in the Garuda App. ERONet does not allow EROs to make decisions until BLOs have submitted verification reports.

However, they stated that the BLOs under Changtongya jurisdiction did not recommend the deletion of 402 voters following PSE verification.

“Therefore, we opine that such a case be decided in court, because such instances of voter (S) deletion without valid reason happened in the past also,” the activists said in a press statement.

They also accused the district election office of failing to keep proper records of deletions as required by the RTI Act, and stated that for the benefit of all, they will fight until the end of this case to ensure that such data/record loss does not occur again.

The statement also mentioned that the Mokokchung election office had offered them to bring the list of deleted voters, and if they are genuine voters but their names have been deleted, they would be re-added to the voter list, which was declined, citing that they cannot simply delete names and expect people to add them again.