2.7 lakh voters aged over 100 in Maharashtra SIR roll, ECI took a month to fix

In Maharashtra, a technical glitch recorded the birth years of 2,70,313 voters as 1900, resulting in their ages appearing as 101-150 years in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) draft electoral roll. This issue came to the attention of the Election Commission of India (ECI) on September 2, and the Commission fixed it on October 6, more than a month later.

Of the affected voters, 2,37,974, or 88%, were concentrated in three Assembly constituencies in Nashik district: Kalvan (ST), Chandwad, and Deolali (SC). The remaining 32,339 voters were spread across the state. The State Chief Electoral Officer's office initially raised the problem and sought assistance from the ECI's IT division, led by Seema Khanna.

The CEO, S Chockalingam, followed up multiple times, emphasizing the urgency of the matter on September 17. The ECI acknowledged a technical glitch had caused the error, and after further follow-ups, the issue was resolved on October 6. This incident highlights the reliance of state CEOs on ECI headquarters for voter records and raises concerns about the centralization of the electoral roll database within the Commission.