Fingerprint mismatch: EC to propose amendment to RPO soon
The Election Commission has finalised the proposal for empowering the election officials to allow up to 1 percent of voters in a polling booth to cast votes through EVMs if their fingerprints do not match with biometrics data stored in the EC server.
The EC will send the proposal to the law ministry very soon so that the process to amend the Representation of the People Order (RPO) could start, Election Commissioner Md Alamgir told reporters at his EC office yesterday.
At present, the commission issues circulars mandating presiding officers and assistant presiding officer to exercise this authority.
The proposed amendment to the RPO, if passed, will give a legal basis to the practice.
If the proposal becomes law, over 1 percent of voters at a polling booth will not be able to vote if their fingerprints do not matched.
There have been allegations that the election officials sometimes misuse this authority and allow even up to 25 percent voters in a polling booth to cast votes in cases of fingerprint mismatch.
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