{
  "id": 15784128,
  "title": "The ECI’s unfinished lessons",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/20/the-ecis-unfinished-lessons",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-10-20T18:57:25.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The Hindu",
    "slug": "the-hindu",
    "url": "https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/the-ecis-unfinished-lessons/article71605299.ece"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "The Election Commission of India (ECI) has faced challenges in ensuring accurate and accessible electoral rolls. During India's first electoral roll, numerous women were inadvertently omitted from the list, as they were registered through their relationships to men rather than their own names. Post-independence, Chief Election Commissioner Sukumar Sen took steps to rectify this, leading to nearly 85% of affected women being registered by the 1957 elections.\n\nThe Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls is currently underway, with issues persisting in several states. In Bihar, around 65 lakh names were missing from the draft roll published in August 2025, citing reasons such as deaths, migration, and duplicate entries. The Election Commission was directed by the Supreme Court to publish a list of excluded voters along with the reasons for exclusion, empowering voters to challenge errors.\n\nIn West Bengal, approximately 27 lakh names were deleted during adjudication, leading to over 22 lakh appeals. This illustrates the importance of not only removing inaccurate names but also correcting wrongful exclusions promptly. The appeals process has raised concerns over the efficiency of the tribunal system and the technical challenges faced by judges.\n\nThe Form 7 process allows voters to seek the deletion of their names from the roll. However, in Aland, Karnataka, out of 6,018 online applications seeking deletions, the ECI rejected 5,994 applications as incorrect and accepted only 24 after verification. This highlights the need for transparency in the process, with a verifiable record of each applicant, supporting evidence, and the final decision.\n\nThe ECI's handling of polling data also comes under scrutiny. During the 2024 Maharashtra Assembly election, the provisional turnout increased from 58.22% to 66.05%. While such discrepancies do not necessarily indicate improper voting, a significant change warrants a clear explanation. The recent amendment to Rule 93 of the Conduct of Elections Rules in Punjab and Haryana has raised concerns about public access to electronic records, including CCTV footage and webcasting material. The timing of this amendment has sparked questions about whether it aims to protect privacy or limit scrutiny.\n\nThe independence of election commissioners is also under examination. Following a Supreme Court's decision in Anoop Baranwal vs. Union of India (2023), an interim selection committee was established, comprising the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition, and the Chief Justice of India. However, subsequent amendments replaced the Chief Justice with a Union Cabinet Minister, diminishing public confidence in the ECI's independence.",
  "summary": "While the ECI need not accept every allegation made by political parties, constitutional authority cannot substitute for verifiable evidence",
  "key_points": [],
  "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."
}