Maharashtra poll chief seeks ECINet tweak to give EROs say on roll anomalies

Maharashtra's Chief Electoral Officer, S. Chockalingam, has asked the Election Commission of India to modify the ECINet software so that Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) can exercise discretion over anomalies detected in the electoral rolls. The request was made in a letter dated September 24 and has since been accepted, an official in the State poll body said.

The senior IAS officer's letter points to "logical discrepancies" thrown up by the system, such as mismatches in a voter's parents' names or age details. It also seeks the authority to exempt voters from a hearing where officers are satisfied with the documents they have submitted.

According to the State poll official, such suggestions from Chief Electoral Officers are routine. The software is centralised and notices are generated from it, the official explained, adding that the State had asked for EROs to be allowed to take decisions on those notices.

Separately, the Commission has extended the deadline for filing claims and objections under the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in Maharashtra from September 30 to October 12. Enumeration forms for about 2.07 crore voters in the State could not be collected or were marked as absent, deceased, shifted or duplicate entries.

The Maharashtra Congress, meanwhile, has demanded action against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, alleging that the statutory authority of EROs to decide voter eligibility is being undermined through ECINet. State party spokesperson Atul Londhe said that where anomalies or discrepancies arise, the legal power to determine who is a voter rests with the ERO, and claimed this was being taken away through the system with the involvement of officials including Director General of IT Seema Khanna and Senior Deputy Election Commissioner Maneesh Garg.

ECINet is a unified digital platform built by the Election Commission to streamline electoral processes and improve transparency and accessibility.

The Commission and the CEC have drawn criticism after it emerged that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had recorded objections on at least 14 occasions over 10 months to decisions and orders relating to the SIR, some of which they said were issued without their knowledge. Opposition parties have accused Mr. Kumar of taking unilateral decisions favourable to the ruling establishment.

Mr. Londhe further claimed that Mr. Kumar's appointment as CEC was facilitated by changes to the selection process for Election Commissioners, including the removal of the Chief Justice of India from the selection committee and the substitution of a junior Union Minister, which he said gave the government a majority on the panel. He also criticised the legal immunity granted to Election Commissioners, arguing that it shields them from civil and criminal proceedings for acts done in office.