On Saturday, 16th August, the Election Commission of India (ECI) issued a press release after several Opposition leaders’ allegations of large-scale voter fraud during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. The poll body clarified that the correct time to raise concerns about electoral rolls is during the “Claims and Objections” period, which is held before every election.

In its press release, the Election Commission said that some political parties and individuals are now raising issues about errors in electoral rolls, even though these lists had been shared with them well in advance. 

Election Commission of India says, “Recently, some Political Parties and individuals are raising issues about errors in the Electoral Rolls, including those prepared in the past. The appropriate time to raise any issue with the Electoral Rolls would have been during the Claims… pic.twitter.com/0Q2e9brBES

— ANI (@ANI) August 16, 2025

The Commission explained that once the draft electoral rolls are published, both digital and physical copies are given to all political parties. A full month is then provided to check the list and file objections.

The poll panel added that this one-month window is meant for correcting errors. If any genuine mistakes were reported, then they could have been fixed before the final rolls were published. After final publication, the updated lists are again shared with all recognised political parties and made available on the ECI website.

Transparency in voter list preparation

The Election Commission stressed that transparency has always been the “hallmark” of electoral roll preparation. According to the poll body, political parties and their booth-level agents (BLAs) are also expected to check the lists during the given time, but many failed to do so.

“ECI continues to welcome scrutiny of Electoral Rolls by Political Parties and any Elector,” the statement said, adding that timely feedback would help in removing errors and keeping the lists accurate.

Opposition’s allegations of vote theft

The Opposition, especially the Congress party, has strongly criticised the Commission over manipulation of voter lists. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has accused the ECI of allowing “vote theft” in states like Maharashtra, Karnataka and Haryana.

In a press conference on 7th August, Rahul Gandhi claimed that in Karnataka’s Mahadevapura constituency alone, more than one lakh votes were “stolen” through duplicate entries, fake addresses and multiple registrations at the same location. He also pointed out that the data he presented was from the Election Commission itself, and questioned why the poll body had not denied it.

“This is Election Commission data. Why don’t you say it’s wrong? Because you know the truth. You know that we know what you have done across the country,” Gandhi had said.

ECI asks for proof

In response, the Election Commission has asked Rahul Gandhi to provide the names of voters he believes were wrongly added or removed. It has also asked for a signed declaration to support his allegations.

The poll body maintained that raising such issues after the elections is not the right approach and insisted that the system in place already gives parties enough time to check and report errors in the voter lists.