Duplicate voter IDs can get generated, says UP CEO; orders officials to remove them

Uttar Pradesh’s Chief Electoral Officer acknowledged that one voter can receive multiple Electors Photo Identity Cards, or EPICs, after submitting repeated applications. The admission came during a public exchange about a voter who allegedly received several cards. The issue matters because duplicate entries can make an electoral roll less accurate.

The CEO’s office said the system can generate multiple EPICs when the same individual submits more than one form. It said periodic deduplication is conducted through the ECINET platform. Officials are also working to detect repeated applications at the submission stage, before additional cards are generated.

CEO Navdeep Rinwa directed district election officials and Electoral Registration Officers to identify such cases during the Special Intensive Revision. Booth Level Officers must help find them, and voters should complete Form-7 under the rules. Officials must resolve cases promptly before the draft roll is published on November 12, 2026.

EPIC stands for Electors Photo Identity Card. In the article, it refers to the voter ID card issued to an elector. The key concern is not the card’s name, but the possibility that the same person may have more than one card connected to repeated applications.

The mechanism is straightforward. If an individual submits multiple forms, the applications can be processed more than once. The Uttar Pradesh CEO’s office acknowledged that this can lead to the generation of multiple EPICs. The article does not describe a fixed limit or explain every stage of card production.

To address the problem, officials periodically carry out deduplication through the ECINET platform. They are also developing methods to catch repeated forms when applications are submitted. During the Special Intensive Revision, Booth Level Officers must identify duplicate entries, while Form-7 is used to resolve cases according to the rules.

The reported possibility is more than one voter ID card for the same person. Uttar Pradesh’s Chief Electoral Officer said repeated applications submitted by an individual can result in multiple EPICs. The source does not give a numerical maximum, so it cannot establish how many cards one person could receive in the extreme.

The key mechanism is repeated form submission. When the same voter files more than one application, each application may move through processing before duplicates are detected. The CEO’s office acknowledged that this can generate multiple cards. It also said deduplication is performed periodically through ECINET, rather than claiming that every duplicate is stopped immediately.

Officials are working to identify repeated applications at the submission stage itself. During the Special Intensive Revision, Booth Level Officers must help identify duplicate entries. Form-7 is to be completed for resolving cases under the rules, before the draft electoral roll is published on November 12, 2026.

A duplicate entry means the same voter appears more than once in the electoral roll. That can reduce confidence in the roll’s accuracy and make it harder for officials to maintain a clean record of eligible voters. The Uttar Pradesh government specifically described its goal as making the draft roll “pure and error-free.”

The article links duplicates to repeated applications. If one person submits multiple forms and those forms are processed, multiple EPICs may be generated. The CEO’s office said periodic deduplication through ECINET is used to purge duplicate entries. It did not describe a particular case in which duplicate cards were used to cast multiple votes.

The response is administrative and preventive. Booth Level Officers are to identify suspected duplicates, and officials must ensure prompt resolution through Form-7 as required by the rules. Removing such entries should improve the draft roll before its planned publication on November 12, 2026, while wider registration efforts continue for eligible citizens still missing.

The correction process combines routine database checks with field-level verification. The CEO’s office said deduplication is carried out periodically through ECINET. It also said efforts are underway to catch repeated applications when they are submitted, rather than waiting until later review.

During the Special Intensive Revision, CEO Navdeep Rinwa instructed district election officials and Electoral Registration Officers to identify cases caused by voters submitting more than one application. Booth Level Officers are expected to identify such voters in the field. Officials must then ensure prompt resolution of duplicate-entry cases.

The prescribed resolution is for the concerned voters to fill out Form-7 according to the rules. Rinwa ordered that these cases be handled on a priority basis. The aim is to prepare a draft electoral roll that is “pure and error-free” for publication on November 12, 2026. Officials must also campaign to register eligible citizens whose names are still missing.

The Chief Electoral Officer provides statewide direction and oversees the correction effort. Navdeep Rinwa convened a virtual meeting with district election officials and Electoral Registration Officers to discuss duplicate removal and preparation for a special campaign day on October 24. He ordered priority handling of duplicate cases.

Electoral Registration Officers and other district officials are responsible for carrying out the instructions within the revision process. They must identify cases where a voter submitted more than one application and ensure that each case is resolved under the rules. Form-7 is the specified method mentioned in the statement.

Booth Level Officers provide the local identification stage. Rinwa said such voters should be identified through BLOs. The wider system also uses periodic deduplication through ECINET and is working toward submission-stage detection. Officials must complete the work before the draft roll is published on November 12, 2026.

An electoral roll is the official list of people registered as voters. The article discusses efforts to make Uttar Pradesh’s draft electoral roll “pure and error-free.” That requires two things at once: eligible citizens who are missing must be registered, and repeated entries caused by multiple applications must be resolved.

The article gives both parts of the challenge. The CEO’s office said one individual can submit repeated forms and receive multiple EPICs. Officials use periodic deduplication through ECINET, while Booth Level Officers help identify duplicate voters during the Special Intensive Revision. Form-7 is used to resolve duplicate-entry cases under the rules.

Accuracy matters because the roll is meant to reflect eligible voters without repeated records. CEO Navdeep Rinwa said many eligible citizens were still outside the roll, so officials must run an awareness campaign for registration. At the same time, duplicate cases must be handled promptly before publication of the draft roll on November 12, 2026.