Thrissur DCC president Joseph Tajet on Thursday (August 14, 2025) alleged that the State Election Commission is paving the way for large-scale voter fraud in Kerala’s upcoming local body elections.
Mr. Tajet said that in earlier years, the voter registration software had a built-in safeguard to detect duplicate votes. When an application to add a voter’s name was submitted, the Electoral Registration Officer (ERO) could upload the applicant’s electoral ID to the system. This would instantly notify the local body where the applicant was already registered to vote, ensuring transparency.
“Now, the new software provided by the Election Commission to add voters does not have this feature. As a result, hundreds of duplicate votes are certain to slip into the rolls, leading to a huge increase in double voting,” Mr. Tajet said.
He demanded that the Election Commission clarify whether this change was “deliberate or a technical lapse.”
He further cautioned that if a political party wanted to capture a panchayat, it could easily bring in voters from other areas and list them as residents of local households.
According to the Mr. Tajet, similar flaws exist in the voter deletion software. The current system does not indicate from which ward a voter is being removed, he said. “Without that detail, the public cannot identify who is being deleted, even by checking the hearing notices posted on notice boards,” he said.
“This situation could seriously compromise the integrity of local body elections,” Mr. Tajet said, adding that he has already written to the State Election Commission and the District Collector demanding urgent corrective measures.
Published – August 14, 2025 12:30 pm IST
