THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Chief Electoral Officer Tikaram Meena has confirmed that there are double votes in most districts of the state. He told a news conference that a preliminary inspection had found irregularities. The inspection was conducted on opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala's complaint.

Meena said that this is not the first time it had happened and was happening from time to time. The problem was that the BLOs did not check. There are similar problems outside the state. In Thavanur, double votes were confirmed in 70 percent of the complaints. 3700 double votes were found in Kozhikode and 640 in Kasargod. The investigation in this regard will continue. He made it clear that he would not hide anything.

After January 20, the commission received nine lakh applications for the registration of voters. The problem raised came as the booth level officials were not able to go directly to the houses and inspect them due to Covid. Problems with the software also led to double votes. One voter in Kasargod received five cards. Four of those cards were destroyed. The Assistant Electoral Registration Officer who gave the cards has been suspended. He said disciplinary action had been taken to ensure that only genuine voters are on the list.