New Delhi: The Election Commission has reissued electoral photo identity cards (EPICs) with fresh numbers to voters whose cards bore similar identification numbers, according to official sources on Tuesday.
The issue came to light during field-level verification, where it was discovered that voters with duplicate EPIC numbers were genuine electors residing in separate assembly constituencies or polling stations. “No voter was able to cast a vote at multiple polling stations due to these similarities,” a source said.
The Commission clarified that the number of such cases was limited, averaging one instance per four polling stations. Officials said the matter did not affect the outcome of any election.
A comprehensive verification drive was carried out, covering over 10.5 lakh polling stations across the country. Chief electoral officers from all 36 states and Union Territories, along with electoral registration officers from 4,123 assembly constituencies, conducted the verification process. Over 99 crore voter records were reviewed.
According to sources, the problem originated in 2005 due to decentralised issuance of EPIC series by states and persisted after constituency delimitation in 2008 due to typographical and procedural errors.