The Election Commission’s electoral-roll software ERONET has come under scrutiny as the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter lists flags millions of electoral records for what is described as “logical discrepancies”.
According to a report published on September 23, around 17.6 million voters across Telangana, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Delhi have received notices under the category. ERONET, or Electoral Roll Officers’ Network, is used to process enumeration forms and match current voters with entries in older electoral rolls.
The issue has attracted attention because many of the older electoral rolls were maintained in regional languages. In Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, the 2002 rolls were in Telugu, while Karnataka and Maharashtra used Kannada and Marathi respectively. Differences arising during translation or transcription can result in names, ages and other details being flagged as mismatches.
One example cited in the report involved a Hyderabad voter whose name appeared differently in the older records after being converted from Telugu into English. Similar cases have reportedly emerged in Karnataka, where voters received notices over alleged inconsistencies in the age difference between themselves and their parents.
Election officials have maintained that receiving a notice does not automatically mean that a voter’s name will be deleted. The notices are part of the verification process, allowing electors to provide documents or information to establish their eligibility.
The software itself has also become part of a wider institutional debate. ERONET is now integrated into ECINET, a newer unified technology platform launched by the Election Commission in January 2026. The ECI has said the integration helps in cross-checking voter information and identifying duplicate entries and other discrepancies more efficiently.
The controversy also comes amid reports that Election Commissioners Vivek Joshi and Sukhbir Singh Sandhu had raised objections on several occasions concerning decisions related to electoral-roll management, including the centralisation of ERONET controls. The Election Commission, however, has rejected claims of an internal rift and said decisions relating to SIR and other matters were approved unanimously by all three commissioners.
The legal framework places Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) in charge of maintaining electoral rolls for their constituencies, while the Election Commission exercises overall supervision.
The Supreme Court has also recently sought greater clarity from the Election Commission over the “logical discrepancy” category during the Delhi SIR, including whether voters are being clearly informed about the documents or information required to resolve discrepancies.
With the SIR process continuing, the functioning of ERONET and the handling of notices are likely to remain closely watched as authorities work towards preparing updated electoral rolls.
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