Election Commission of India Resolution of Two-Decade-Old Legacy Issue of Similar EPIC Numbers

New Delhi : In a significant step towards further streamlining the electoral process and enhancing the accuracy of the electoral rolls, the Election Commission of India (ECI) has successfully resolved a nearly 20-year-old legacy issue involving similar Electors Photo Identity Card (EPIC) numbers.
Background:
The issue dates back to 2005, when different States and Union Territories, in a decentralized manner, issued EPIC numbers using distinct alphanumeric series for each Assembly Constituency (AC). Following the nationwide delimitation of constituencies in 2008, these series were required to be updated. However, in some cases, outdated or incorrect series were inadvertently continued or typographical errors resulted in overlapping EPIC numbers being issued in different constituencies.
Resolution Efforts:

In an extensive nationwide exercise, the Chief Electoral Officers (CEOs) of all 36 States/UTs, along with the Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) of all 4,123 Assembly Constituencies, undertook a comprehensive search of the electoral database—comprising over 99 crore electors across approximately 10.50 lakh polling stations.
This field-level verification revealed that the occurrence of similar EPIC numbers was minuscule—on average, about 1 case in every 4 polling stations, where the electors were genuine and belonged to different constituencies or polling stations. Importantly, these electors were verified as legitimate voters in their respective areas.
Corrective Action Taken:

To eliminate any scope of confusion and ensure uniqueness, all such electors with similar EPIC numbers have now been issued new EPIC cards with unique numbers. This marks the successful closure of a long-standing technical issue without affecting any elector’s voting rights.
Clarification:
It is pertinent to note that each elector’s name appears only in the electoral roll of the polling station where they are an ordinary resident. Possession of an EPIC with a similar number in another constituency never enabled voting at any other polling station. Therefore, this legacy issue did not impact the outcome of any election.
The ECI reaffirms its commitment to maintaining a clean, accurate, and updated electoral roll, ensuring the sanctity and integrity of the democratic process.