The ECI’s unfinished lessons, Pg7

Key Highlights:

• The Election Commission of India (ECI) faces challenges in ensuring inclusive and accessible elections, particularly concerning electoral roll revisions and transparency.
• Historically, Sukumar Sen, India's first Chief Election Commissioner, ensured women were enrolled under their own names for the 1957 elections.
• The ECI's Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls saw 65 lakh names missing in Bihar and 27 lakh deletions in West Bengal, leading to numerous appeals.
• Concerns have been raised regarding Form 7 applications for voter deletion, with an inquiry and FIR registered in Aland, Karnataka, over suspicious patterns.
• Transparency issues arose in the Maharashtra 2024 Assembly election due to discrepancies in provisional and final voter turnout figures.
• Rule 93 of the Conduct of Elections Rules was amended, limiting public access to electronic election records like CCTV footage.
• The Supreme Court's ruling in Anoop Baranwal vs. Union of India (2023) on the selection of election commissioners was altered by Parliament, impacting the ECI's perceived independence.

Detailed Insights:

• The ECI's current challenges mirror historical efforts to make elections more inclusive, as seen with the enrollment of women voters in early elections.
• The Special Intensive Revision (SIR) aims to update electoral rolls by removing deceased, migrated, or duplicate entries, but requires robust mechanisms for voters to challenge exclusions.
• In West Bengal, technical issues with the appeals portal hindered the timely correction of wrongful deletions, potentially disenfranchising voters.
• The misuse of Form 7 for mass deletion requests, as observed in Aland, Karnataka, highlights the need for verifiable records and applicant identification for every deletion.
• Discrepancies in voter turnout data, even if provisional, necessitate clear and timely explanations from the ECI to maintain public trust.
• The amendment to Rule 93 of the Conduct of Elections Rules raised concerns about limiting scrutiny and public access to crucial election-related evidence.
• The change in the selection committee for election commissioners, replacing the Chief Justice of India with a Union Cabinet Minister, has raised questions about the ECI's institutional independence.

Key Concepts Involved:

• Electoral Roll: A list of all eligible voters in a constituency, maintained by the ECI.
• Form 7: An application form used by electors to request the deletion of a name from the electoral roll.
• Institutional Independence: The ability of a body, like the ECI, to function without undue influence from other branches of government.
• Rule 93 of the Conduct of Elections Rules: A rule governing the preservation and inspection of election documents and records.