The term “Vote Chori Scam” (“Vote Theft Scam“) refers to allegations of electoral fraud and manipulation in India, particularly those concerning the voter registration process and electoral rolls.

The phrase has recently gained prominence due to claims made by opposition political leaders, notably Rahul Gandhi and the Indian National Congress party. Here are the key aspects of the allegations:

Allegations of Voter List Manipulation

The central theme of the “Vote Chori Scam” allegations involves the manipulation of electoral rolls to unfairly affect election outcomes. Specific alleged methods include:

• Duplicate Voters: Claims of the same voter being registered multiple times, sometimes with different details.
• Fake/Invalid Addresses: Allegations that voters are registered using non-existent, fake, or commercially used addresses.

• Targeted Deletions: Accusations of illegally deleting the names of genuine voters in areas known to be strongholds of opposition parties. This is often done by allegedly creating fake logins or misusing application forms for voter deletion (Form 7).
• Misuse of Forms: Claims of misuse of Form 6 for fraudulent additions and manipulation during the SIR. SIR stands for Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls.

Accusations Against Authorities

Opposition leaders accused the ruling party BJP and the ECI of collusion in perpetrating this institutionalized theft of votes. They allege that the fraud is a centralized and automated criminal operation designed to steal elections.

Case Examples Cited

Specific instances have been cited to support these claims, such as:

• Alleged large-scale fake additions and deletions in constituencies in states like Karnataka and Maharashtra.
• Allegations concerning the sharing of Aadhaar data of “deactivated” numbers with the ECI to facilitate voter deletion.

Counterarguments and Context

The ruling party and some prominent citizens have strongly dismissed these allegations:

• Rejection by the Ruling Party: The BJP has consistently denied the claims. BJP stated that these claims are unsubstantiated and an opposition’s attempt to blame the electoral process for their repeated defeats.
• ECI Response: The Election Commission of India has publicly defended its processes. It has asked the leaders making the claims to file formal complaints with sworn affidavits to back up their accusations.
• Citizen Letter: A group of retired judges, bureaucrats, and veterans has written an open letter accusing the opposition. They blamed the opposition of using “unsubstantiated accusations” and “venomous rhetoric” to tarnish the ECI’s dignity.

Best Solution to Prevent Vote Chori or Theft

There is a viable and only solution to prevent any kind of vote chori or vote theft in India. Simply link Aadhaar Card with Voter ID of each person to phase out duplicate, fake and wrong voter IDs/voters. The Biometric data like Retina Scan and Fingerprints can then be merged/linked with voter card.

Just like the government linked the Aadhaar Card with PAN card to narrow down Tax Theft cases. The government of India can fix this voter card and election issue by linking Voter Card with Aadhaar Card. The Election Commission can execute a free and fair real election only by rectifying the electoral roll at a PAN India level. So let us learn how to execute this one-time process.

Step 1

Just like PAN card and Aadhaar card linking, ECI via Government can ask people to link Aadhaar Card with Voter ID card via online and offline modes.

Step 2

During the linking process, Indian citizens will have the option to update their bio-metrics if there is any problem in old data.

Step 3

Linking Aadhaar with Voter IDs and sharing biometric data between UIDAI and ECI will resolve the problem of fake, illegal, and duplicate voter ID cards as well as incorrect voter information.

Step 4

Authorities must store or connect each voter’s biometric data with the EVM for every polling station.

Step 5

During the election, officials should place retina and fingerprint scanners on a counter in each polling station.

Step 6

Instead of requiring a manual ‘go-ahead’ from the polling officer, the system should request a fingerprint and retina scan from the voter before displaying a green “Authorized” signal for casting the vote.

Step 7

The system must display an on-screen confirmation and send an SMS with the party and candidate name to the voter as a token of confirmation once they successfully cast their vote.

Condition: A voter in any case will not be allowed to re-cast his/her vote in another assembly/parliamentary constituency within 5 years unless it is re-election for the same old assembly/parliamentary constituency. No matter if the person has moved or shifted from old to new assembly/parliamentary constituency.

His/her attempt to re-cast vote in any other assembly/parliamentary constituency should display “Not Authorized” during fingerprint and retina scan inside the polling station. This will foil attempt of duplicate or multi-voting by any voter. The traditional “ink on finger” way will not longer be required in this digital away of voter verification.

In this way the ECI with the help of Indian Government will be able to get rid of illegal, fake and duplicate voters and voter IDs. This will also prevent the immigrants who are not legal, from casting vote in Indian elections. By executing this think we can proudly have a free and fair election that no one in the world can challenge.

Would you like to know more about this Vote Chori or Vote Theft controversy in India? Watch the below explainer video.