Maharashtra poll body CEO seeks EROs discretion over voter hearings and SIR discrepancies aligns with EC’s concerns

Maharashtra Chief Electoral Officer S Chockalingam has approached the Election Commission seeking changes to its ECINet software, arguing that Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) should have greater discretion while dealing with cases during the notice phase of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.

Maharashtra Chief Electoral Officer S Chockalingam has approached the Election Commission seeking changes to its ECINet software, arguing that Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) should have greater discretion while dealing with cases during the notice phase of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.

The communication, sent to the Election Commission on September 24, sought four changes to the software. The requests largely concern situations in which EROs are required to take decisions under election law but do not currently have corresponding options available to them on the digital platform, according to a report by the Indian Express Newspaper.

The demands echo concerns raised earlier by Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi over the functioning of ECINet and the role of field-level election officials.

Greater discretion for EROs

One of the key requests is to allow EROs to decide whether a voter flagged for a “logical discrepancy” needs to appear for a personal hearing.

Under the current system, ECINet provides two options under its “Take Action” menu, neither of which allows an ERO to waive such a hearing.

Chockalingam has sought an additional option, “Exempted from Hearing”  for cases where the elector has submitted valid and satisfactory documents. The move would particularly help senior citizens, persons with disabilities and other vulnerable groups avoid unnecessary inconvenience.

A logical discrepancy does not by itself mean that an individual is ineligible to vote. It refers to a mismatch identified by ECINet when an elector is linked to a parent or grandparent in the electoral roll from the previous SIR.

Such discrepancies can include a mismatch in a parent’s name, an unusual age gap between parent and child, an incorrect progression of age between old and new rolls, or cases where an elector has submitted no document or only an Aadhaar card.

Request for wider range of documents

Chockalingam has also sought greater flexibility in the documents that voters can submit.

The notice currently lists 13 documents, but the CEO pointed out that the list is indicative rather than exhaustive. He has requested an additional “Other/Other Equivalent Document” option.

The proposal is aimed at cases involving people from tribal, homeless and sex-worker communities who may not have documents from the specified list.

The Maharashtra CEO has also sought authority for EROs to dispose of certain logical discrepancy cases themselves when they are satisfied with the evidence, instead of sending supporting documents to the District Election Officer for verification.

The request is based on the statutory responsibility assigned to EROs for electoral rolls. Under the law, an ERO is responsible for an Assembly constituency and, if satisfied that a person is eligible, can direct that the person’s name be included in the roll.

Changes sought in ECINet process

Another request concerns the mandatory uploading of an “Extract of Last SIR” in every discrepancy case. Chockalingam has proposed making this optional since the discrepancy is already identified using the previous SIR roll.

He has also sought written instructions and FAQs covering the notice, document submission, hearing and disposal procedures, saying EROs have several queries and that oral instructions from the Election Commission or CEO are insufficient.

The Representation of the People Act, 1950 and the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960 place responsibility for electoral rolls on EROs. These officers are generally sub-divisional magistrates or officials of equivalent rank and handle the preparation of voter lists, claims and objections, as well as decisions on inclusion and deletion of names.

Election Commission grants one request

The Election Commission has since accepted one of Maharashtra’s requests.

Following a full Commission meeting on September 26, it said EROs would have discretion to exempt people flagged for logical discrepancies from personal hearings. The Commission also said several portal upgrades had already been made based on inputs from state CEOs and that any further flexibility required by field officers would be made operational.

The Commission also announced that ECINet would be reviewed by a committee headed by a senior Deputy Election Commissioner, with an independent expert from an IIT or IIIT included in the panel. It said further flexibility would be provided to field officers if required.

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