Barely days after the Goa Congress Party president alleged “vote theft” in Goa, fresh and explosive claims of voter roll manipulation have rocked the State — this time in the Santa Cruz and Benaulim constituencies.
In a memorandum to the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) on Monday, Santa Cruz Block Congress Committee president John Nazareth alleged that 26 bogus voters have been fraudulently enrolled at a single small house in Bamon Bhat, Merces — a home of just 32 square metres with only two actual residents.
“In a house of just 32 square metres at Bamon Bhat, Merces, only two genuine voters live — yet 26 bogus voters have been enrolled there,” alleged Santa Cruz Block Congress Committee president John Nazareth in a memorandum to the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) at Altinho on Monday.
According to Nazareth, these 26 bogus voters appeared on the polling day to cast their votes. Also 15 of them had exercised their franchise in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, he stated producing their names and Electoral Photo Identity Card (EPIC) numbers as proof.
Nazareth noted that the names, earlier listed between serial numbers 316 and 343 in the January 5, 2024 roll, now appear between serial numbers 288 and 315 in the draft Mother Roll 2025.
Joint secretary Edwin Vaz said a complaint had already been lodged with Tiswadi joint mamlatdar-cum-returning officer Sanjivani Satardekar. He urged the CEO to work with the assistant returning officer to immediately delete the bogus entries and to launch an intensive drive in Bamon Bhat, where he suspects more fraudulent enrolments.
Vaz blamed the problem on Booth Level Officers (BLOs) being ‘clueless’ when online Form 6 applications are filed. Both Nazareth and Vaz appealed to citizens to check voter rolls and report ‘vote theft’, and demanded the introduction of digital rolls.
In South Goa’s Benaulim constituency, former MLA Adv Radharao Gracias exposed another alleged large-scale electoral fraud, claiming two houses in Seraulim owned by the Durando family have been used to register 100 non-resident voters from outside the State.
“Eighty voters have been registered under a single house number, while another 20 are linked to a second house,” Gracias said, alleging they came from Bihar, Karnataka and other States. “This is a clear case of voter roll manipulation, and the Election Commission must act.”
FRESH ‘VOTE THEFT’ ALLEGATIONS ROCK GOA
Gracias said the first house, allegedly hosting 80 voters, is split into non-existent sub-numbers like 81B, 81B1, 81B2 and 81BA — which the Seraulim Village Panchayat confirmed do not exist in its records. The second house, linked to 20 voters, belongs to the family of serving Deputy Sarpanch Camilo Durando’s son, raising conflict-of-interest concerns.
The complaint, originally filed by Joaquim Dias, claims voter IDs were issued solely on the basis of No Objection Certificates (NOCs) from property owners, without Aadhaar or any valid ID proof.
“They come only during elections, vote and disappear. This is a mockery of the democratic process,” Dias charged.
According to Gracias, the matter was first raised five years ago by then Seraulim Sarpanch Jose Colaso but was ignored. A fresh complaint is now before the South Goa District Collector, but no action has followed.
“This is a dangerous trend and the Supreme Court must take cognisance. The integrity of the electoral process is at stake,” Gracias warned, demanding door-to-door verification by BLOs to weed out fake voters.
Reacting to the developments, Dr Jorson Fernandes of Cuncolim said, “Without any delay, all pertinent records must be verified and names must be compared with identity documents. Fresh investigations need to be conducted to regain the trust of the people by demonstrating that the system is willing to rectify itself, of course, after proper checks are undertaken. Allegations must be openly, carefully, and immediately investigated to restore confidence in the democratic fairness of the system. These are very serious allegations, and the electoral officials must act as neutral and independent authorities without any delay.”
“If these allegations are true, the Election Commission of India will lose its integrity, neutrality and independence — and, more than anything, the trust of the people in a democratic set-up. To make the system foolproof, they must remove the misfits and implement stringent processes and procedures to prevent such failures from recurring,” Dr Fernandes added.
Griffin Velinkan Fernandes of Fatorda said, “It is a very serious issue that must be properly investigated by the Election Commission of India (ECI). A clear message needs to be sent that these types of illegalities will not be tolerated in order to maintain the fairness of the electoral process.”
Adv Sadanand Vaigankar, president of the Corruption Abolition Party, said, “We have already filed an election petition before the High Court challenging the procedure adopted by the Election Office on how to use the Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) and the symbol loading unit. There is no manual for the symbol loading unit of EVMs and VVPATs.”