The Election Commission has announced a series of decisions on issues raised by Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi in internal communications over the past 10 months, including changes to voter registration forms, access to electoral roll databases and oversight of its IT systems.
The decisions were taken at a meeting of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and the two election commissioners on Saturday, days after news report that Sandhu and Joshi had raised objections on at least 14 occasions to decisions and orders, some of which they said were issued without their knowledge.
Here are the key issues flagged by the two commissioners and the EC's responses,
Changes to Form 6
Joshi had objected to changes in Form 6, used for enrolling new voters, arguing that the statutory form prescribed under the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960, could not be modified without amending the rules. Sandhu backed his objection.
After an SIR-related declaration was added to the online version of Form 6 on the ECINET platform, Sandhu again objected, calling the change "unauthorised/illegal" and seeking its removal.
The EC said the additional declaration, requiring new voters to provide details of their own or their parents' or grandparents' entries in the electoral roll prepared during the previous SIR, had been upheld by the Supreme Court. It said the provision was specific to the SIR exercise and regular statutory forms would continue to be used otherwise.
Access to electoral roll database
Sandhu and Joshi raised concerns over the centralisation of electoral roll data and access available to statutory election authorities in states. Joshi proposed an audit to ensure that only authorised officials had credentials to modify the database, while Sandhu questioned restrictions on access available to state officials.
The EC said field officers have role-based access to ECINET based on their statutory powers. A committee headed by a senior deputy election commissioner and including an independent IIT or IIIT expert will review the platform's compliance with election laws and rules.
The panel also said any additional flexibility required by field officers would be made operational and that new IT modules and portals would be discussed by the Committee of Officers before being placed before the Commission.
Goa's 97 voters
Following a Supreme Court order, electoral registration officers in Goa examined voters flagged for "logical discrepancies" and found 97 eligible for inclusion. However, the software reportedly did not provide an option to restore their names.
The Goa CEO's office wrote eight times seeking a rollback option, but the voters remained outside the final roll.
The EC said booth-level officers had been directed to visit the affected voters and collect their forms. Of the 97 voters, 81 have already submitted Form 6 for inclusion.
During the ongoing SIR, BLOs will also visit voters who receive notices for being unmapped or having logical discrepancies, collect their documents and upload them on ECINET for consideration by the ERO. Such voters will ordinarily not have to appear before an ERO or AERO.
Communications issued without full Commission approval
Sandhu had flagged communications being issued in the name of the EC without approval from the full Commission. Joshi later raised a similar concern and said such communications should receive the requisite approval.
The EC's press note did not specifically address the approval process for such communications. It said agendas for all Commission meetings would be circulated in advance and minutes issued. It also said directions issued by commissioners to EC officers "shall be meticulously complied with".
Oversight of IT division
Sandhu and Joshi had written to Cabinet Secretary T V Somanathan over changes in the distribution of work within the EC's IT set-up. They objected to changes they said were made without their knowledge and affected oversight of the IT division.
The EC said the disputed work-redistribution orders were never implemented after the two commissioners intervened. It also said the deputy election commissioner's oversight of the IT division was "never actually withdrawn".
Appeals against restoration of voters
Sandhu had also questioned appeals seeking deletion of voters whom judicial officers had included in the electoral rolls in West Bengal. He sought clarity on who was authorised to file the appeals on behalf of the EC and who had actually filed them.
He recorded that neither he, Joshi nor the West Bengal CEO had been informed about the basis or process for filing the appeals.
The EC's September 26 press note did not specifically address the issue. It said anyone whose name was left out during or after the SIR could apply to the ERO for inclusion under continuous updation. It also directed CEOs, DEOs and EROs to launch a special enrolment drive for such electors.
