Election commission resolves 20-year-old issue involving duplication of EPIC numbers
The problem, which arose due to the issuance of similar EPIC series by different Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) since 2005
By Newsmeter Network
Election commission resolves 20-year-old issue involving duplication of EPIC numbers
Hyderabad: In a significant move to strengthen electoral transparency, the Election Commission of India (ECI) has successfully resolved a 20-year-old issue involving the duplication of Elector Photo Identity Card (EPIC) numbers.
The problem, which arose due to the issuance of similar EPIC series by different Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) since 2005, has now been addressed following a nationwide database review.
99 crore electors
According to ECI sources, the review covered over 99 crore electors across 36 States and Union Territories. Electoral officials from all 4,123 Assembly constituencies and 10.5 lakh polling stations participated in the verification drive. With an average of 1,000 voters per station, the scale of the review was unprecedented.
Though instances of duplication were minimalāestimated at one in every four polling stationsāfield-level verification confirmed that all affected individuals were genuine voters registered in different constituencies. These voters have now been issued fresh EPIC cards with unique identification numbers to eliminate any ambiguity.
Why did the duplication take place?
The duplication originated in 2005 when various States followed decentralised practices in assigning alphanumeric EPIC series. After the 2008 delimitation of constituencies, a standardised format was introduced. However, a few constituencies either mistakenly continued using outdated series or, due to typographical errors, issued EPIC numbers from series assigned to other regions.
The ECI emphasised that the issue had no impact on election outcomes, as voters could only cast their vote at their designated polling stations based on their official registration. Despite the duplicate numbers, the system ensured that no voter was able to vote more than once or outside their constituency.
The corrective measures, undertaken as part of the ECIās broader electoral integrity efforts, mark a key step in strengthening public trust and improving voter data accuracy, said a public note from the ECI.
