Maharashtra CEO seeks more powers for EROs in SIR notice phase

Maharashtra Chief Electoral Officer S Chockalingam has written to the Election Commission seeking changes to the ECINet software to give Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) greater discretion in handling voter discrepancies during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process, officials said on Tuesday, 29 September. The request, sent in a letter on 24 September, has been accepted by the Commission, an official told PTI. The changes sought include allowing EROs to waive personal hearings when documents are sufficient, accept documents other than the 13 listed in SIR notices, and decide on 'logical discrepancy' cases themselves rather than sending them to district-level officials.

Maharashtra's draft electoral roll, published on 31 August, showed a 21.1 per cent reduction in electors, with enumeration forms of over 2.07 crore voters marked as absent, deceased, shifted or duplicate entries. The final roll is due on 16 November. The Commission has extended the deadline for filing claims and objections for the SIR from 30 September to 12 October in Maharashtra. The development comes amid a controversy over reported internal dissent within the EC, with Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi having recorded objections on at least 14 occasions over 10 months regarding SIR decisions. The Maharashtra Congress has demanded action against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, alleging that EROs' statutory powers are being diluted through the ECINet system.