EC orders ECINet review after first full panel meeting since internal rift report
NEW DELHI: The Election Commission on Saturday ordered a review of its ECINet platform by a panel that will include an independent IIT or IIIT expert. The decision followed the first meeting of all three election commissioners since The Indian Express reported serious internal objections over electoral-roll decisions and software controls.
Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi form the three-member Commission. The meeting began at 3 pm on September 26, three days after the newspaper published its investigation.
The Commission said a senior deputy election commissioner would head the ECINet review panel. It will examine whether the platform complies with election laws and rules and submit its report to the Commission.
The panel also decided that all new initiatives concerning information-technology modules and portals would first be discussed by the Committee of Officers. They would then be placed before the Commission for approval.
The Indian Express investigation reported that Sandhu and Joshi had recorded at least 14 objections over 10 months. Their concerns included changes to Form 6, restricted access for statutory election officers and centralised control of the electoral-roll database.
Joshi had sought an audit to ensure that only statutory authorities had credentials to alter the voter database, according to the newspaper. Sandhu later recorded that state officials lacked complete access to ERONet and questioned the IT division's authority to restrict them.
The Commission's press note said field officers have role-based ECINet access according to their statutory powers. It added that the portal had undergone upgrades based on inputs from state chief electoral officers.
The Commission also formalised procedures for its own functioning. Agendas will be circulated before Commission meetings and minutes will be issued. Foreign travel by officers will require the Commission's approval, while directions issued by commissioners must be complied with.
It said annual performance appraisal reports for officers would be completed by December 31 each year. The decisions were approved by the full Commission, according to the press note signed by Deputy Director P Pawan.
The Commission addressed the two election commissioners' letters to the Cabinet Secretary, which had formed part of the newspaper's investigation. It said the letters concerned the functioning of an officer on deputation and were not related to Commission policy or its IT division.
The press note said work-redistribution orders issued by the officer were not implemented after directions from the two commissioners. It added that oversight of the IT division by a deputy election commissioner was never withdrawn.
The Indian Express had reported that Sandhu and Joshi wrote separately to the Cabinet Secretary on July 29 after a work-allocation order changed responsibilities relating to IT and ICT. The two commissioners jointly set aside the order the following day, the report said.
The Commission also announced measures for voters issued notices during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision over unmapped records or logical discrepancies. Booth-level officers will visit their homes, collect documents and upload them to ECINet for decisions by electoral registration officers.
Such voters will ordinarily not be required to attend hearings at ERO or AERO offices. Exceptional hearings should preferably be held online, and voters may authorise an adult family member to attend on their behalf.
District election officers were directed to create help desks and special camps for people living in night shelters, labourers, homeless people and other disadvantaged groups. The Commission also ordered an immediate enrolment drive for people omitted during or after SIR, including young and first-time voters.
The Commission said SIR had been completed in 20 states and Union Territories, including Bihar and West Bengal. It said final elector numbers would be known after publication in the remaining 12 states covered by Phase III.
In Goa, booth-level officers were directed to visit voters left out of the rolls and collect their forms. The Commission said 81 of 97 such voters had filed Form 6 for inclusion.
The Indian Express reported that electoral registration officers had found all 97 eligible. They could not be restored before the final roll was published because the software lacked the required option.
The Commission extended Delhi's deadline for claims and objections to October 30 and the disposal deadline to November 30. Maharashtra's corresponding deadlines were extended to October 12 and November 10.
The press note reiterated that nationwide SIR orders and schedules had received unanimous approval. It did not address the newspaper's reported question about who authorised appeals against voters restored to West Bengal's electoral rolls.
