The joint chief electoral officer Haryana, Inder Jeet, on Friday said that only those voters whose name is in the electoral list could exercise their right to franchise.
In case the name of voter appears in the voter list but did not have Electoral Photo Identity Card (EPIC), he or she could caste vote by showing any of the 11 alternative Identity Proofs as specified by the Election Commission. Voters whose name is not in the electoral list would not be allowed to cast vote, he added.
Inder Jeet said that few false messages are being circulated on the social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook and WhatsApp to misguide the people. Referring to one of such messages, he said that a message has gone viral on the social media in which it has falsely been stated that those who did not have voter card or whose name is not in the voters list now need not to worry. On the polling day, such voters could visit the polling booth along with their two photographs or photo Id proofs and fill Form No 7 which would be available on the polling booth and cast their vote. This message is completely false, said the Joint Chief Electoral Officer.
He made it clear that Form No 7 is used to delete votes and not to make votes. He said that the process of Form No 7 has already been discontinued from March 10, 2019. Therefore, voters have been appealed not to fall prey to such false and misleading messages. He said that in case of any doubt, people could contact voter helpline toll-free number – 1950 or also go through rules or instructions made available on voter helpline mobile application.
The joint chief electoral officer said that those voters who would not be able to produce EPIC could show 11 alternate photo id proofs to establish their identity. These included passport, driving license, photo service identity cards issued to the employees by centre and state governments, public sector undertakings or public limited companies, photo passbook issued by banks or post offices, PAN card, smart card issued by Registrar General of India (RGI) under National Population Register (NPR), MNREGA job card, Swasthya Bima Smart Card issued under the scheme of Labour Ministry, pension documents along with photograph, official identity cards issued to MPs, MLAs/MLCs and Aadhar card. Apart from this, those voters who have old EPIC could also cast vote provided their name appears in the voter list.