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Government

Maharashtra Chief Electoral Officer Denies Allegations of Voter Data Irregularities in Assembly Polls

Chockalingam refuted the allegations of a surge in voter turnout, explaining that the numbers were consistent with historical trends.

Maharashtra Chief Electoral Officer Denies Allegations of Voter Data Irregularities in Assembly Polls

Maharashtra's Chief Electoral Officer, S. Chockalingam. Image: @airnewsalerts/X

Maharashtra's Chief Electoral Officer has refuted allegations of a sudden surge in voter data, emphasizing that no mass deletions of voters took place in any constituency, amid claims of irregularities in the recently concluded state assembly elections.

In an interview with The Hindu, Maharashtra's Chief Electoral Officer, S. Chockalingam, acknowledged that the Election Commission (EC) had received requests from at least one or two candidates in nearly every district seeking verification of the memory chips in the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs).

The EC also received complaints about alleged mass additions and deletions of voters, as well as concerns over a spike in voting percentages.

On November 29, the Maharashtra Congress leadership submitted a memorandum to the Election Commission of India (ECI), raising concerns over the alleged arbitrary deletion and addition of voters before the election and the sharp increase in voter turnout figures between 5:30 pm and 11:30 pm on polling day.

Chockalingam refuted the allegations of a surge in voter turnout, explaining that the numbers were consistent with historical trends.

“There is no sudden surge. As far as the 5 p.m. data is concerned, it is being compared to Jharkhand, where voting ends earlier, and where people historically prefer to vote earlier in the day. Maharashtra is a big State. It has 1 lakh polling booths. It is being said that 76 lakh people voted between 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. This means, on an average, 76 persons per booth voting,” he said.

He added, “In Maharashtra, due to higher urbanisation, people want to vote in the evening. The numbers are as per the historical trend, as per the day’s trend.”

Chockalingam further clarified that no mass deletions of voters are carried out in election years and rejected claims that EVMs from Gujarat were tampered with.

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