New Delhi [India], August 13 (ANI): The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Wednesday fact checked 'vote theft' claims made by Leader of Opposition (LoP) Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi earlier, and asserted that no one can force to remove the name of a voter from final electoral rolls without following proper procedure laid down in law.

'Electoral rolls are prepared in accordance with law. Any correction, deletion or inclusion in Electoral Roll can always be made as per procedure laid down in law. No one can force to remove YOUR NAME from final Electoral Rolls without following the procedure laid down in law,' ECI posted on X.

The EC clarified that an Electoral Registration Officer (ERO) can 'suo moto inquire' into a few cases, but can't issue thousands of notices merely based on allegations made by someone on Print, TV or social media that might lead to 'harassing thousands of Eligible Electors without any material evidence.'

'If any person, who is not an elector of YOUR Assembly Constituency, alleges wrongful inclusion of YOUR name, he can only do so by becoming an applicant before ERO, who can take applicant's Oath under Rule 20(3)(b) of Registration of Electors Rules, 1960 which requires that: 'The evidence tendered by any person shall be given on oath and administer an oath for the purpose,'' the poll body argued.

'Any such list of name(s) from such person(s) has to be submitted with the Declaration/Oath as per law,' it said, adding that If someone believes in their analysis or claims of wrongful inclusion of any name, they can easily share the evidence with the ERO along with a signed Declaration/Oath as per Rule 20(3)(b).

'This Rule protects Eligible Elector(s) from any person(s) from outside YOUR Assembly Constituency who may have an intent of cutting YOUR precious vote,' the EC said.

This comes after Gandhi on Sunday doubled down on his claims of 'vote chori' during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and noted that a 'clean' voter roll is imperative for free and fair elections.

The Congress MP linked his stand to a fight to 'protect' democracy.

'Vote Chori is an attack on the foundational idea of 'one man, one vote'. A clean voter roll is imperative for free and fair elections. Our demand from the EC is clear - be transparent and release digital voter rolls so that people and parties can audit them. This fight is to protect our democracy,' the Congress MP posted on X. (ANI)