Assam's Voter List Integrity: A Call for Family Tree Verification

Need for Comprehensive Voter List Verification in Assam

Guwahati, July 20: In light of numerous foreigners successfully registering on Assam's electoral rolls, former State NRC coordinator Hitesh Dev Sarma has proposed that the Election Commission of India (ECI) should investigate the ‘family trees’ of all residents to ensure an accurate voter list.

During the National Register of Citizens (NRC) compilation, it was revealed that many individuals enrolled using fraudulent documents, with some even possessing multiple voter IDs under different aliases.

In a correspondence addressed to the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC), Sarma expressed appreciation for the ECI's thorough revision of electoral rolls in Bihar, which followed the discovery of numerous foreign names on the voter list. He emphasized that Assam's situation is significantly more severe than that of Bihar or any other Indian state regarding electoral integrity.

Sarma explained that the NRC verification process consisted of two key components: document verification and linkage establishment. The document verification involved sending scanned copies to the issuing authorities to confirm their authenticity, a method known as back-end verification.

This back-end verification is a highly effective way to identify false or forged documents. However, even if a document is verified as genuine, there remains a risk that it could be misused to falsely claim nationality.

During the office verification phase, it became apparent that not all fraudulent documents could be detected, as some individuals attempted to connect with legitimate citizens using fraudulently obtained yet officially recognized documents.

To address this issue, the ‘Family Tree Matching’ process was implemented. This method requires all descendants of a ‘Legacy Person’ to submit their family details, which are then analyzed and compared using software against other family trees submitted by descendants of the same legacy individual.

Discrepancies arise when false lineage claims are made, as thorough checks can reveal individuals who are not biological descendants of the legacy person. The system is designed to ensure that the family trees of legitimate descendants align with one another.

Conversely, the family trees of imposters attempting to falsely claim lineage through pre-1971 legacy documents will not match those of genuine descendants.

Sarma suggested that the verification methods used in the NRC could also be applied to create an accurate voter list for Assam. It is noteworthy that the family trees of nearly all Assam residents are accessible to the NRC authority, and the ECI could obtain this information with the Supreme Court of India's approval, as the NRC update was conducted under the court's direct oversight. Without family tree verification, any authentication efforts are likely to be ineffective in the current scenario.