Daijiworld Media Network - Panaji

Panaji, Apr 11: With the 2027 general assembly elections in sight, the ruling BJP has raised alarm over the presence of alleged bogus and duplicate voters in the state and has urged the Chief Electoral Office (CEO) to take immediate corrective measures.

A five-member delegation led by Goa BJP President Damodar Naik met Chief Electoral Officer Ramesh Verma on Thursday, submitting a memorandum calling for a comprehensive drive to cleanse the electoral roll of fake entries. The party underscored the need to weed out duplicate voters, deceased persons, and those who have migrated but still remain on the rolls.

A major focus of the memorandum was the linking of Aadhaar numbers with Voter IDs, a move the BJP believes will help streamline the electoral process and curb fraudulent registrations.

“Duplicate voters enrolled in multiple locations, along with continued presence of names of the deceased or those who have shifted, pose a threat to free and fair elections,” the party stated in its plea.

Highlighting further discrepancies, the BJP pointed out that new or first-time voters living in the same household are often listed under different parts of the electoral roll, making it difficult to locate all voters from a single family under one entry.

The party has also stressed that additions and deletions in the electoral rolls must be carried out in consultation with Booth Level Agents (BLA 1 and BLA 2) appointed by political parties. Currently, such changes are often executed unilaterally by Booth Level Officers (BLOs), the party claimed.

The BJP urged the election office to verify the authenticity of voter registrations under the same house number and to delete any fraudulent entries to ensure transparency in the voting process.

The state election machinery is yet to issue a response to the memorandum submitted by the BJP.