News Desk: The Uttar Pradesh Election Department has ordered the immediate deactivation of ECINET portal login IDs assigned to computer assistants across all 75 districts of the state following alleged irregularities in voter registration records in Pilibhit. The decision has been taken to strengthen the security of electoral data and prevent unauthorised changes to voter details.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Electoral Officer Navdeep Rinwa issued the directive on October 31, instructing all District Election Officers (DEOs) to ensure that login credentials of computer assistants working at Voter Registration Centres are disabled immediately. The order covers 806 computer assistants deployed across 403 Assembly constituencies in the state.
The action follows an investigation into alleged manipulation of voter records in the Pilibhit Sadar Assembly constituency. According to the findings shared by the CEO's office, a computer assistant allegedly entered 13,779 Form 8 applications between May 31 and August 29, 2026. Of these, 10,470 applications were approved, while 3,309 were rejected.
Form 8 is used for correcting details in existing electoral rolls, including changes to personal information and shifting of residence. However, investigators reportedly found that the office did not have the corresponding physical application forms or supporting documents for the entries.
The controversy came to light after complaints were raised by the Congress and Samajwadi Party over alleged discrepancies in the voter list. One of the major concerns was that identical EPIC numbers were appearing against the details of different voters.
Under the new arrangement, booth-level officers (BLOs) will be responsible for submitting voter-related forms for their respective polling booths through the ECINET or BLO application. Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) will continue to have access to the portal and oversee the process.
The CEO has also directed the outsourcing agency concerned to terminate the services of the computer assistant allegedly involved in the Pilibhit case. District Election Officers have been asked to personally verify the deactivation of all operator IDs and submit compliance reports.
The Election Commission has taken further action in the matter. It has ordered the suspension of two Electoral Registration Officers, Mayank Goswami and Hemant Chaudhary, and directed that FIRs be registered against them. The commission has also asked for a thorough re-examination of voter additions, deletions and corrections made through Forms 6, 7 and 8 across Uttar Pradesh.
The developments have brought electoral roll management and the security of digital voter records under renewed scrutiny.
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