The Election Commission has clarified that duplication in EPIC numbers does not imply duplicate or fake voters. The Commission said this in a statement following certain media reports flagging the issue of electors of two different states having identical EPIC numbers. The Commission clarified that while the EPIC numbers of some of the electors may be identical, the other details including demographic details, Assembly Constituency and polling booth are different for the electors with the same EPIC number. It said any elector can cast a vote only at their designated polling station in their respective Constituency in their State or UT where they are enrolled in the electoral roll and nowhere else.

EC said the allotment of identical EPIC numbers to some electors from different States and UTs was due to a decentralized and manual mechanism being followed before shifting the electoral roll database to the ERONET platform. This resulted in certain State and UT CEO offices using the same EPIC alphanumeric series and leaving scope for the possibility of duplicate EPIC numbers being allotted to electors in different Assembly Constituencies in different States and UTs. The Commission further stated that to allay any apprehensions, it has decided to ensure the allotment of unique EPIC numbers to registered electors. Any case of duplicate EPIC number will be rectified by allotting a unique EPIC number. The ERONET 2.0 platform will be updated to aid and assist in this process.