Maharashtra Poll Officer Seeks Greater Powers for EROs During SIR

Maharashtra Chief Electoral Officer S Chockalingam has approached the Election Commission seeking changes to its ECINet software and greater flexibility for Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) during the notice stage of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. Maharashtra is currently in the notice phase of the SIR exercise. According to reports, Chockalingam has asked the Election Commission to give EROs wider discretion while dealing with cases flagged by the software as having “logical discrepancies”.

Such discrepancies can occur when the system is unable to establish a link between an elector and a parent or grandparent listed in the electoral roll from the previous SIR. Differences in names or ages, for example, may trigger a discrepancy. Officials have clarified that such a flag is a mismatch in the records and does not, by itself, mean that a person is ineligible to vote.

The Maharashtra CEO has sought four changes to the software, including allowing EROs to decide cases after examining documents and conducting hearings. He has also sought the authority to waive a personal hearing when an ERO is satisfied with the documents submitted by an elector. The requests echo concerns previously raised by Election Commissioners Vivek Joshi and Sukhbir Singh Sandhu over the role of field-level electoral officials and the functioning of the election software.

EROs, generally officers at the Sub-Divisional Magistrate level, are legally responsible for preparing electoral rolls for their respective Assembly constituencies. Their duties include examining claims and objections and deciding whether names should be added, retained or removed from the rolls. The issue has also raised questions about the degree of centralisation in the Election Commissions technology systems. Sandhu had earlier written that CEOs, District Election Officers and EROs were reporting difficulties in exercising their statutory responsibilities because access to the electoral-roll system was centrally controlled.

Following a full Commission meeting on September 26, the Election Commission said EROs could exempt electors flagged for logical discrepancies from personal hearings. The Commission also said several portal upgrades had already been introduced based on feedback from state-level officials and that additional flexibility would be implemented if required.

The Maharashtra draft electoral roll, published on August 31, showed a reduction of about 21.1% in the states electorate. The final roll is scheduled to be published on November 16. Chockalingam has said that more than two crore names removed from the draft roll belonged largely to voters who had either died or moved from their previous addresses.

Disclaimer: This image is taken from NDTV.