What powers SIR's voter-roll checks?
The Election Commission (EC) has declined to disclose the identity and version of the software utilized to scrutinize errors and irregularities in electoral rolls during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral process, citing exemptions under the Right to Information (RTI) Act for commercial confidence, trade secrets, and intellectual property rights, as reported by the Times of India.
In a reply to an RTI application submitted on July 27, the EC stated that no new software had been developed or procured specifically for the SIR exercise. The poll body clarified that Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) are responsible for determining whether an elector should be included or excluded from the electoral rolls based on facts and records.
The response was prompted by a query from social activist M A Mujeeb Ayyub, who requested information about the technology employed in the voter-roll revision process. Ayyub sought details about the software, applications, algorithms, or AI platforms utilized to detect errors, inconsistencies, or anomalies in the electoral rolls during the SIR.
The EC did not provide specifics regarding the software's name, version, or functionality, classifying the information as exempt due to its classification as commercial confidence, trade secrets, and intellectual property under the RTI Act. The EC also declined to elaborate on whether automated systems, such as AI, machine learning, predictive analytics, or automated decision-support systems, were employed at any stage of the process.
When questioned about the workflow followed after records were flagged for verification, correction, or deletion, the EC asserted that the specific queries sought information that did not fall under the definition of "information" as per Section 2(f) of the RTI Act. This approach is not unique to the EC's disclosures; electronic voting machine manufacturers Bharat Electronics Ltd and Electronics Corporation of India Ltd have previously refused to share the source codes of their EVMs in response to RTI inquiries.
Written by urgent.news from The Economic Times's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
