Hello,
The Uttar Pradesh chief electoral officer (UP CEO) responded to our investigation, which found that 16.18 lakh voters were mysteriously added to the state’s voter roll without their details being made public.
In his response, he confirmed our story. And then he lied.
He claimed that the details of these applicant voters were withheld on the ECI’s instructions. So we dug out those very instructions and read them. These internal instructions explicitly mandate that details of everyone applying to be added must be made public.
This contradicts the UP CEO’s claim that he was acting under the ECI’s orders.
Read our follow-up on the UP CEO’s response: UP CEO Confirms: 16.18 Lakh Applications for Addition Accepted Before Draft Roll. Falsely Claims Details Were Hidden on ECI’s Instructions
You can also read the investigation that set it all rolling: The Mysterious 16.18 Lakh Voters Added to Uttar Pradesh’s Roll
The Reporters’ Collective’s Electoral Roll Project has been live for over a year, and has produced more than 30 investigative reports exposing the SIR exercise in unchecked authority.
We are not stopping yet. But our tiny team of reporters and editors relies on your support to keep this work going. Please support us.
Warm regards,
Ayushi Kar
Reporter
The Reporters’ Collective