The Delhi High Court on Wednesday directed the Election Commission to address the issue of duplicate voter entries in Delhi’s voter list, following a petition filed by Rashtravadi Adharsh Mahasangh.
The petition alleged that lakhs of duplicate voters had been enrolled, compromising the integrity of the democratic process.
A bench led by Acting Chief Justice Vibhu Bakhru remarked, “Such matters arise before every election,” and urged the Election Commission to consider using technological tools to prevent duplication in future electoral rolls.
However, the court acknowledged that revising the electoral roll was not feasible at this stage, given the proximity of the Delhi Assembly elections.
During the hearing, the petitioner’s counsel expressed concern that the issue might remain unresolved before the elections concluded. Advocate Sidhant Kumar, representing the Election Commission, countered that the petition lacked specific instances of duplication and highlighted that necessary procedures to revise the rolls were already in place, as previously addressed by the Supreme Court.
The petitioner contended that despite the availability of tools such as Photo Similar Entries (PSE) and Demographic Similar Entries (DSE), no significant action had been taken to eliminate duplicate entries. These techniques, mandated by the Election Commission in a letter dated August 11, 2023, are part of the voter list revision process under Section 22 of the Representation of the People Act.
The petitioner further argued that state authorities’ inaction allowed duplicate entries to proliferate, violating the fundamental principle of “one citizen, one vote” and undermining citizens’ constitutional rights. They emphasized that with the adoption of Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools, identifying and removing duplicates from electoral rolls could be accomplished efficiently.
The Election Commission maintained that it had implemented these technological measures and followed due processes to revise the electoral rolls, rendering the petitioner’s concerns moot.
Nonetheless, the High Court directed the Commission to address the petitioner’s concerns at an appropriate stage and disposed of the petition with these observations.
The court’s decision highlights the ongoing debate over ensuring transparency and accuracy in electoral rolls, particularly in light of advancements in technology that can streamline the process of detecting and rectifying duplicate voter entries.
