{
  "id": 15564207,
  "title": "ECI reverses stand on searchable rolls; adds no safeguards against misuse it once cited",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/19/eci-reverses-stand-on-searchable-rolls-adds-no-safeguards-against",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-10-19T05:14:16.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Hindustan Times",
    "slug": "hindustan-times",
    "url": "https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/ec-reverses-stand-on-searchable-rolls-no-safeguards-against-misuse-it-once-cited-101792386857238.html"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Last week, the Election Commission of India (ECI) announced it would provide political parties with machine-readable drafts and final electoral rolls, though it did not introduce any new safeguards to prevent potential misuse, a matter familiar to those in the know. On Thursday, ECI stated that the electoral registration officer would issue a hard copy and a readable PDF format of the electoral roll for each polling station to recognized political parties after the publication of the draft and final electoral rolls. However, the commission clarified that the readable PDF format would not include the electors' photographs. Senior ECI officials confirmed that the absence of voter photos in the readable format was the sole safeguard against the misuse they had previously cited.\n\nThis decision marked a significant reversal for ECI, which previously supplied political parties with image PDFs containing voters' photographs. Machine-readable digital copies could be easily searched and analyzed, enabling parties to verify voter names and scrutinize changes. In June 2025, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge and Lok Sabha Opposition Leader Rahul Gandhi had demanded consolidated, digital, and machine-readable voter rolls for the 2024 Lok Sabha and Maharashtra Assembly elections, including version histories and timestamps for roll changes. ECI had rejected the demand at the time, citing risks of data mining, privacy violations, and digital tampering.\n\nWhen asked about the change in stance, an ECI official attributed it to complaints received during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral roll. They explained that the decision was influenced by concerns that scanned digital copies could make mapping difficult and allow common people and Block-level officers (BLOs) to search their names easily and quickly using machine-readable PDFs. Another ECI official emphasized that the commission's earlier concerns about potential misuse, such as manipulating voter rolls and affecting public trust, had influenced their previous decision to withhold machine-readable files. The commission's new order followed a series of actions prompted by allegations that ECI Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had lodged at least 14 objections in 10 months to decisions made without their knowledge or approval, regarding the electoral-roll database and voter management.",
  "summary": "Senior ECI officials said not publishing the electors’ photographs was the only safeguard against the alleged misuse the commission previously cited",
  "key_points": [
    "ECI reverses decision on searchable electoral rolls.",
    "No safeguards against misuse provided in new format.",
    "Hard copy and readable PDF issued to parties."
  ],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}