A State Electoral Commission report intended to identify fake voters, which was leaked to media on Thursday, said that around 500,000 names on the country’s electoral roll may be fictional and need to be additionally verified. After a computer cross-referencing of voters’ data from 10 different state institutions, the report said that there are more than 495,000 names that need to be checked, as their data does not appear to match. The report noted that 192,000 of the people listed on the electoral roll do not appear in any other database. Fake voters are a key concern raised by the country’s opposition, which accuses the ruling party of tampering with the electoral roll in order to rig polls in its favour.
The initial check-up also found additional 35,000 suspicious voters who are listed at addresses that have unusually large amounts of residents – up to several dozen at the same address.
The 23-page report is yet to be formally adopted by the State Electoral Commission. It also has to adopt a plan laying out how and where to do a door-to-door check on voters in order to verify the large number of inconsistencies. The Commission decided to additionally check some data before adopting the report.
Full Article: Macedonia Electoral Roll Has 495,000 Suspect Names :: Balkan Insight.
