2 Poll officials suspended in Karnataka amid allegations of voter fraud

Bengaluru, Nov 25: The Election Commission on Friday ordered the suspension of two additional district election officials after allegations of "electoral fraud" in Karnataka.

The poll body also directed officials for a review of the deletions and additions in the electoral rolls of three Assembly seats in the state.

The poll authority also directed the chief electoral officer to share a list of all deletions and additions made to the electoral rolls of the Shivajinagar, Chickpet and Mahadevapura Assembly seats after January 1, 2022 with all the recognised political parties so as to enable them to file claims and objections.

What is 'voters' data theft' controversy?

A report on a website claimed how an NGO, which was given permission to conduct 'Systematic Voters Education and Electoral Participation (SVEEP), a voter awareness drive by the Election Commission, misused the order by collecting personal data of voters like caste, age, gender, employment, phone number, address and Aadhaar numbers.

The NGO, which had taken up the task of creating awareness for free ahead of 2023 state elections, sent its agents disguised as government officials to collect the personal information, the report stated.

It has also been alleged that the organisation created fake documents for its agents after getting permission on January 29 this year from the Electoral Registration Officer (ERO) of the Mahadevapura Assembly constituency.

The data collected from the voters was uploaded on survey app called 'Digital Sameeksha'. The report also highlighted that the agents were not aware of the fake IDs created by the NGO for them.

BBMP Reaction

After the controversy broke out, the BBMP immediately cancelled the permission given to the NGO. However, it did not give an explanation over its decision to cancel it. Notably, the stolen data has not been retrieved from the NGO and its sub-contractors.

The civic agency said that the Trust violated the conditions of the permission and asked the public not to share any voter details with representatives of the NGO.

BBMP Chief Commissioner Tushar Giri Nath clarified that the civic body has not found any evidence of data theft.

EC's Reaction

Chief Electoral Officer of Karnataka Manoj Kumar Meena said the inquiry was ordered following apprehension of impersonation by an NGO during the 'voter awareness drive'. "The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) commissioner had some information. We have the apprehension that there is impersonation and it has to be inquired. Ultimately, after the police investigation and our Divisional Commissioner inquiry, we will come to know what is there in it," Meena told PTI.

However, she refused to comment on the complaint by the Congress with the State Election Commission regarding the voter data theft. "Let's wait for the inquiry. If I comment anything, it will compromise the inquiry. We will not say about the merit of the complaint. The regional commissioner is entrusted with the inquiry. Let the truth come out. Then we will take action as per the recommendation," the CEO said.