Amid an ongoing dispute over dissent within the Election Commission (EC) regarding the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, Maharashtra Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) S Chockalingam called for greater flexibility for local election officials using the poll panel’s ECINet software. ECINet is the commission’s centralised digital platform for managing electoral rolls and carrying out various election-related tasks.
In a September 24 letter addressed to senior EC officials, Chockalingam proposed five changes to ECINet, all aimed at enabling Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) to exercise powers already granted to them under election laws. His requests mirror concerns previously raised by Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi, who had reportedly argued that the software was limiting powers legally available to EROs, according to The Indian Express.
The EC has since acted on some of these concerns. It decided that voters identified through “logical discrepancies” would not need to attend hearings in person, while Booth Level Officers (BLOs) would be allowed to collect documents from their homes and upload them onto ECINet.
WHAT DID THE MAHARASHTRA CEO SEEK?
Among Chockalingam’s requests was an option allowing EROs to waive personal hearings for voters who had already submitted valid and satisfactory documents. EROs, who operate at the sub-divisional level, are responsible for preparing electoral rolls, examining claims and objections, and deciding whether names should be included or removed.
He also asked that voters be permitted to provide documents beyond the 13 types listed in SIR notices. He pointed out that members of tribal, homeless and sex-worker communities may not possess documents included in the indicative list.
The Maharashtra CEO further requested that EROs be allowed to resolve certain “logical discrepancy” cases themselves when they are satisfied with the evidence, rather than being required to refer them to district-level officials. A logical discrepancy refers to a mismatch identified by the software and does not automatically indicate that an individual is ineligible to vote.
According to the Indian Express report, such discrepancies can occur when ECINet is unable to match a voter with a parent or grandparent listed in the electoral roll from the previous SIR. This could happen, for example, because of differences in a parent’s recorded name or age.
Chockalingam also sought to make the uploading of an “Extract of Last SIR” optional in discrepancy cases, arguing that the system had already detected the mismatch by comparing the current information with the previous SIR roll.
He additionally called for FAQs and written guidelines for EROs, saying officials had a “number of queries” about the process and that verbal directions from the ECI or CEO were not sufficient. The proposed FAQs, according to the Express, would address notices, document submission, hearings and case disposal.
Maharashtra is currently in the notice stage of the SIR exercise, which aims to identify and remove ineligible voters. The draft electoral roll released on August 31 contained 21.1 per cent fewer electors than the previous roll, while the final electoral roll is scheduled to be published on November 16.
The SIR exercise began in June last year and has so far resulted in more than 13 crore names being removed from draft electoral rolls across 30 states and Union Territories.
WHAT DID THE EC DECIDE?
At a full commission meeting on September 26, the EC announced several decisions addressing some of the concerns surrounding the SIR process.
The commission said voters flagged for logical discrepancies would not be required to attend hearings personally. Instead, BLOs would collect the necessary documents from their homes and upload them to ECINet. The EC also said field officers would be given additional flexibility wherever necessary, according to The Indian Express.
The commission further decided to have ECINet reviewed by a committee headed by a senior Deputy Election Commissioner. The panel will also include an independent expert from an IIT or IIIT, the report said.
Launched on January 22, ECINet serves as the technological backbone of the election system, integrating more than 40 applications and portals into a single platform. It is used to manage and update electoral-roll information.
An investigation reported that Sandhu and Joshi had raised concerns about the centralisation of the electoral-roll database and the limited access available to state-level officials. One issue highlighted was that state officials could possess the legal authority to make a particular decision but lack a corresponding option within the software to formally record it.
Chockalingam’s letter raises a similar concern, suggesting that the legal discretion available to an ERO may not always be reflected through an equivalent function on ECINet.
CEO'S REQUESTS COME AMID DISSENT OVER SIR
The Maharashtra CEO’s demands came days after an Indian Express investigation reported that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had formally objected at least 14 times over a 10-month period to decisions and procedures concerning the SIR and electoral rolls.
The reported objections involved several matters, including changes to Form 6, which is used for new voter registration, deletion and restoration of voter names, appeals against decisions restoring names, and the centralisation of electoral-roll data.
The EC said differences of opinion were a normal part of internal deliberations and maintained that decisions related to the SIR had been taken unanimously.
