EC rejects Opposition’s Voter fraud allegations, says issue should have been raised earlier

August 16, 2025

New Delhi: The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Saturday dismissed allegations of voter fraud in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, asserting that political parties had the opportunity to raise objections to electoral rolls during the legally mandated period before the polls.

In a statement, the poll body said that some political parties and individuals have recently alleged errors in electoral rolls, including those prepared in previous years. However, it stressed that such issues could have been rectified if objections were submitted during the “Claims and Objections” period.

“The appropriate time to raise any issue with the Electoral Rolls would have been during the Claims and Objections period of that phase… Had these issues been raised at the right time through the right channels, it would have enabled the concerned SDM/EROs to correct the mistakes, if genuine, before those elections,” the ECI said.

Election Commission of India says, “Recently, some Political Parties and individuals are raising issues about errors in the Electoral Rolls, including those prepared in the past. The appropriate time to raise any issue with the Electoral Rolls would have been during the Claims… pic.twitter.com/0Q2e9brBES

— ANI (@ANI) August 16, 2025

The Commission underlined that draft electoral rolls are always published and shared with political parties in both digital and physical formats, and a month-long window is given to file corrections before final rolls are released. Once finalised, copies are again shared with all recognised political parties and published on the ECI website.

Reaffirming its stand on transparency, the poll body said, “Utmost transparency hallmarks the electoral roll preparation process as per law, rules, and guidelines.”

It also pointed out that some political parties and their booth-level agents (BLAs) failed to examine the rolls in time and therefore missed the chance to flag discrepancies.

The Commission reiterated that it continues to welcome scrutiny of electoral rolls by political parties and electors, as it helps in removing errors and maintaining the integrity of the electoral process.

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