EC flags ‘non-human’ photos in Assam voter list, directs fresh verification
Guwahati: The Election Commission has instructed its field teams in Assam to scrutinise the state’s electoral rolls after reports from Bihar alleged that photos of cats and dogs had appeared in the voters’ list.
The EC has asked officials to identify every “non-human,” “black-and-white,” “not as per specification,” and “no image” entry and replace them with correct photographs of actual voters.
In its directive to the Assam Chief Electoral Officer, the Commission emphasised that software-generated reports must flag all problematic images. It further directed booth-level officers (BLOs) to physically verify such cases and collect updated photographs and Form-8 applications from affected voters. The EC also asked BLOs to maintain a detailed record of every correction made. Officials added that BLOs may take fresh photographs of electors if required.
The Commission also set guidelines for cleaning up logical errors and potential duplicate entries before the publication of the draft rolls. It ordered field officials to standardise addresses, ensure image quality, and eliminate discrepancies.
Addressing concerns over the use of “notional house numbers,” the EC clarified that these temporary numbers do not alter the legal status of any property.
Their purpose, the Commission explained, is to ensure that voters belonging to the same household are assigned to the same polling station during rationalisation.
BLOs must also record prominent landmarks to ensure easy identification of households during verification.
The controversy over inaccurate entries gained attention after claims circulated on social media that some individuals had inserted photographs of animals during Bihar’s special intensive voters’ list revision to highlight loopholes in the system.
On November 17, the Election Commission announced a Special Revision of electoral rolls in Assam.
Officials will publish the final voter list on February 10, 2026, and they have fixed January 1, 2026, as the qualifying date.
Officials described the ongoing process as an upgraded version of the annual special summary revision. Instead of relying on enumeration forms, BLOs will conduct verification using pre-filled registers.
A senior official explained that the Commission chose a Special Revision (SR) instead of a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) because the Supreme Court-supervised citizenship verification in Assam is nearing completion.