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The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Friday, May 14, launched a probe into allegations that foreign nationals illegally voted in the recent Tamil Nadu Assembly election. The probe was launched after foreign nationals were arrested in Chennai and Madurai for allegedly voting. Officials are investigating how their names remained on electoral rolls despite the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
Reports have been requested from Returning Officers in two cities and five districts on how non-citizens could cast votes despite the SIR.
Previously, around 25 individuals from Sri Lanka, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Indonesia were detained during airport immigration checks after indelible ink marks were noticed on their fingers.
Police officials suspect that some foreign nationals may have cast their votes and left the country before authorities could intervene. Investigators reportedly intercepted several individuals based on specific intelligence inputs and are analysing records of foreign arrivals as part of the ongoing inquiry, The Hindu reported.
The arrested have been booked under Sections 172 and 318(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) for impersonation and cheating in elections and Section 31 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950, which punishes false declarations on electoral forms.
Officials suspect that a provision allowing family members to submit enumeration forms on behalf of absent relatives may have been misused. The ECI said the investigation is on, and only after it is over will the impact of the fraudulent votes on the election results be known.
This article was written by a student interning with TNM.