The Election Commission of India (ECI) has announced a series of changes since September 23, following an Indian Express report stating that two of its three members, election commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi, recorded at least 14 objections over 10 months to decisions they claimed were made without their knowledge or approval.
The objections concerned changes to management of the electoral-roll database and the handling of voter additions, deletions and restorations. Tens of thousands of people took to the streets seeking chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation and the scrapping of the electoral roll Special Intensive Review (SIR). Authorities ordered Metro closures, Internet shutdowns, imposed prohibitory orders, and deployed additional security personnel to turn Delhi into a virtual fortress.
The ECI said differences of opinion are part of its normal decision-making process and maintained that its decisions had been unanimous.
Here is all that has changed:
New rules for internal decision-making
At a meeting on September 26, the ECI decided that agendas would be circulated before its meetings and minutes issued afterwards. Directions from commissioners to officers must be complied with, and foreign visits by officers will require the commission’s approval. New IT modules and portals will first be discussed by a committee of officers before being placed before the commission.
The ECI ordered a review of ECINet, the platform underpinning its electoral-roll systems, by a committee headed by a senior deputy election commissioner and including an independent expert from an IIT or IIIT. It said field officers would receive additional flexibility in the system wherever required.
{{/usCountry}}The ECI ordered a review of ECINet, the platform underpinning its electoral-roll systems, by a committee headed by a senior deputy election commissioner and including an independent expert from an IIT or IIIT. It said field officers would receive additional flexibility in the system wherever required.
{{/usCountry}}Form 6 declaration
The online Form 6, used to register new voters, was modified in July to include a declaration asking applicants whether their own or a relative’s name appeared in the electoral roll from the previous intensive revision.
On September 26, the ECI said the prescribed form under the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960, would apply outside the SIR period. The declaration was subsequently removed from the online Form 6 in states where the SIR had concluded.
A cap on objections seeking deletions
On October 9, the ECI capped the number of Form 7 applications an individual elector can file at 10 during a claims-and-objections period and five per month during continuous updating of the rolls.
The move followed allegations of bulk filing of objections against registered voters. The commission directed electoral registration officers to hear the objector in person, record a separate statement for each application and allow the affected voter to be heard before deciding the objection.
SIR hearings
The ECI announced a change for electors served notices during the SIR because their records could not be mapped to the previous intensive-revision roll or showed what the commission calls “logical discrepancies”.
Booth-level officers (BLOs) will visit these voters, collect supporting documents and upload them to ECINet for the electoral registration officer to decide. Voters will no longer routinely be required to attend hearings at the officer’s office. Hearings will be reserved for exceptional cases, preferably online, and an adult family member may attend on the elector’s behalf where authorised.
Special drive to help left-out voters
In an October 1 communication to state and Union territory chief electoral officers, the commission ordered a special drive to identify eligible voters left out of the rolls after the SIR. BLOs are to compare current and pre-SIR rolls, identify missing names and visit households to help eligible residents submit Form 6 applications.
Special Summary Revision
On October 15, the ECI announced a Special Summary Revision (SSR) of electoral rolls in 17 states and Union Territories, with January 1, 2027, as the qualifying date.
Unlike an SIR, which involves preparing voter rolls from scratch, an SSR builds on the existing electoral roll and allows eligible voters to register, correct details, and raise objections.
Under the announced schedule, draft rolls are due on November 12, claims and objections can be filed until December 11, and final rolls are scheduled for January 4, 2027. The commission said separate schedules would follow for states where the SIR was under way or had recently concluded.
Readable PDFs for electoral rolls
The poll body directed that draft and final electoral rolls, without photographs, be supplied to recognised political parties in “readable PDF format” rather than image-only PDFs. Addition, deletion and modification supplements must also be shared at the draft stage.
This change addresses a long-standing demand by Opposition parties for electoral rolls that can be searched and analysed more easily.
SIR deadlines
The September 26 decisions extended the claims-and-objections deadline in Delhi to October 30 and the disposal deadline to November 30. Maharashtra’s deadlines were also extended following a further revision; claims and objections can be filed until October 26, while disposal is due by November 10 and the final roll is due on November 16.