39-year-old voter's name appears six times in Palghar

PUNE: A 39-year-old voter's name was found appearing six times in the electoral roll of Maharashtra's Palghar district, prompting collector Indu Jakhar to order a probe.

The name appeared five times in one polling booth and once in another booth in the same assembly constituency.

The duplication, flagged by activists on social media, led the state chief electoral officer to alert the collector. The CEO's office convened a special meeting and sought detailed information on the process undertaken to resolve the issue. "We have sought a report at the earliest," said a senior official of the CEO's office.

Jakhar told TOI that the process to delete the duplicate entries was under way.

Deputy election officer Tejas Chavan explained the circumstances that led to the duplication. In Nalasopara constituency in the same district, the voter filed form No. 6 online in Jan 2024 to get her name registered. "Believing that the EPIC would be issued immediately after submission of the form, she inadvertently submitted it six times," he said.

The district administration issued a statement, saying: "The district election officer and district collector, Palghar, have directed all agencies to carry out strict checks and eliminate duplicate entries in the upcoming voter list revision programme."

Activists on social media said the case "comes amid Rahul Gandhi's allegations" and "fuels concerns over integrity of electoral rolls" ahead of local body polls in Maharashtra.