Kerala Chief Electoral Officer Tikaram Meena has confirmed opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala claims of voter fraud ahead of the Kerala Assembly election. Reports suggest that election officials conducted a preliminary probe and found validity in Chennithala’s complaint.
According to reports, it has been found that Vaikom has 590 double votes, Palakkad has 800, Chalakudy has 570 and Idukki has 434 double votes. In the complaint filed, around 70% are double votes in Kozhikode’s Thanur. In Kasaragod, 640 double votes have been found.
The booth head will prepare a list to check for double votes. If one name is found in two places, one will be omitted. Four out of five cards belonging to Kasaragod native Kumari has been cancelled. The officer who issued Kumari the 5 cards has been suspended.
Meanwhile, Tikaram said that it isn’t the first time that double voting is taking place. Meena said that booth level officials are not checking the list properly. Reportedly, there are 26 lakh double votes in other states. In Tamil Nadu, 12 lakh double votes have been found. This year, 60,000 double votes have been removed from the list.
Reportedly, 9,16,601 applicants came forward to add their names to the list of which 7,39,905 are added to the list after proper examination. In total, there are 2,74,46,039 voters. Nearly 140 companies would be providing security for election activities in Kerala. As mentioned by the Election Commission, bike rallies must stop 72 hours before the election.
