The Election Commission of India (ECI) has rejected reports of internal disagreement over decisions related to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, saying that all major decisions were taken with the approval of all three election commissioners.
The clarification came after a report alleged that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had recorded at least 14 objections over a period of 10 months regarding decisions taken in the name of the poll panel. The reported objections covered issues including changes to Form 6, voter-list management, electoral database access, voter deletion appeals in West Bengal and the inclusion of eligible voters in Goa.
According to the ECI, however, the decisions, including those connected with SIR, were unanimous. The commission said that both Election Commissioners and Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar had approved the decisions.
The reported objections had raised questions about the process followed for making changes to electoral procedures. One major issue concerned Form 6, which is used by citizens to register as new voters. The form was modified to include questions related to the previous SIR electoral roll. According to the report, Joshi had earlier raised concerns that such a change could not be introduced without amending the relevant rules. Sandhu subsequently also questioned the change.
Another issue involved the management of the electoral-roll database. The two commissioners reportedly raised concerns about what they described as the gradual centralisation of access to voter data and suggested that safeguards should ensure that only legally authorised officials could make changes to electoral records.
West Bengal also featured prominently in the reported objections. Questions were raised over appeals seeking deletion of voters whose names had been retained following judicial scrutiny during the SIR process. The issue comes amid ongoing legal and administrative proceedings concerning electoral rolls in the state.
In Goa, the report highlighted a software-related problem in which 97 voters were reportedly found eligible by Electoral Registration Officers but could not be added to the final electoral roll because the system did not allow officials to record their decisions.
The ECI's latest statement seeks to underline that its decisions remain collectively approved by the three-member commission. The contrasting accounts have nevertheless drawn attention to the procedures governing electoral-roll revision, voter registration and the technology used to maintain voter records.
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