Editorial
1.22 crore excess voters!
It's not too late to rectify
The NDI has reinforced what the media and the civil society had been persistently trying to attract the Election Commission's (EC) attention to since the voter list was 'updated' in August this year. It is strange that it had to be an US institute to rub the matter in when all this while the EC had turned its deaf ears to our calls to address the issue of excess voters. What is beyond one's comprehension is the EC's inexplicable indifference to the reports that had appeared in the media since the 'updated' voter list was first made public, and its reluctance to correct the anomaly. Now that the fact has been further strengthened through the revelation of a foreign organisation it is clear that going to the polls with 1.22 crore names which are either duplicate or excess will only be a farce. Statistics show that there are as many as hundred parliamentary seats where the margin of victory has been around only 5000 votes while there are several dozen seats where it has been between 100 and 1000 votes only. Thus, when the margin had been so fine, ghost voters to the tune of more than ten million will certainly distort the result as the NDI has rightly pointed out, and which we had been so unsuccessfully trying to call the EC's attention to. We are also aware of the constitutional constraints. However, we feel that 'time' should not be a shield to hide behind and an excuse for inaction. Here again Justice Aziz's failure to take note of the public outcry in this matter has been puzzling to say the least, and this is what made him a controversial figure. His inaction has wasted valuable time. This is inexcusable. We suggest that the EC calls upon individuals with experience in handling election matters like voter list, such as ex-members of the EC. A brainstorming exercise with them could be undertaken to come up with ways and means of rectifying the error within the time frame. We strongly feel that there is still time to correct the anomaly and conduct the election within the stipulated time. But for that to be possible the EC must act without any further waste of time.
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