Mysore/Mysuru: Efforts to attain clean and error-free voter lists have fallen short, even after 76 years of Independence. The persistent issue of ‘ghosts’ — deceased individuals listed as alive — and the prevalence of duplicate names continue to plague most extensive voter databases.

In Mysuru-Kodagu LS Constituency, numerous voters found their names missing from the electoral rolls during yesterday’s polling. Additionally, complaints arose from certain polling stations regarding dead individuals still being listed, while living individuals had their names either deleted or transferred to a different segment of the voter list. Consequently, many voters  were left disheartened upon returning home.

Shockingly, individuals who passed away 10 to 15 years ago are still included in the voter lists. Take, for example, Booth Number 171 in the Chamaraja Assembly Constituency, located at The Institute of Education Trust Educational Institution on Sahukar Chennaiah Road in Saraswathipuram. Here, the name of Umesh Rao, a resident of Gangothri Layout, is absent from the voter list.

Instead, Umesh Rao’s name has been erroneously included in the voter list of the Chamundeshwari Assembly Constituency, at a school in Bandipalya. However, Umesh Rao’s troubles don’t end there. His wife, Sowmya’s name has completely vanished from the list.

“I voted from Booth Number 171 in the Chamaraja Assembly Constituency in the last Assembly election but my name has been shifted to the Chamundeshwari Assembly segment now. My wife has voted here in the last election. But her name has been deleted here,” Umesh Rao told                                  Star of Mysore. 

There was frustration and anger among voters who had to leave without voting as their names were missing from the electoral rolls. They said that they had participated in the last Assembly elections and had valid voter identification cards.

Pravin Mysuru, a resident of K.R. Mohalla, expressed his dismay, stating, “We cast our votes in the 2023 Assembly elections, so we assumed we would be able to vote this time as well. However, the names of two of our family members are missing.”

Despite spending crores of rupees on periodic revisions and preparations, voter lists remain riddled with anomalies, providing ample opportunity for fraudulent voting. The lack of coordination between City Corporation and Revenue officials, who are responsible for issuing Death Certificates in urban and rural areas respectively, and the offices of the Election Commission, is cited as the primary reason behind the current discrepancies in the voter lists.