ECI weighs 70 issues as parties push reform

Economic Times

6 hours ago

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New Delhi: The Election Commission is examining nearly 70 suggestions and issues flagged by political parties on election process, with a bulk of them focused on electoral rolls-calling for greater transparency, digitisation, and uploading of Form 17C showing booth-wise turnout and result data, ET has learnt.Nearly half of these suggestions have come from BJP, followed by the Samajwadi Party (SP), Sikkim Democratic Front (SDF), and CPM. The Congress is yet to engage with ECI.The ECI had in March sought inputs from all recognised parties after the Trinamool Congress flagged the 'duplicate' EPIC controversy.
The BJP has proposed that the poll panel move beyond relying solely on state officials-District Election Officers (DEOs) and Electoral Registration Officers (EROs)-for the draft electoral rolls, and instead consider hiring non-partisan, trained, and paid professionals for the summary revision. It has also recommended that procedures under Sections 22, 23, and 24 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951-relating to corrections, name inclusion, and appeals-be simplified, digitised, and made publicly accessible.
Further, the BJP has sought the use of modern IT tools and artificial intelligence to detect and remove duplicate entries across seats.The SP has demanded monthly booth-wise electoral roll updates and weekly updates during Special Summary Revision (SSR), to be shared with political parties by DEOs.The SP has demanded strict one-year retention of reports related to door-to-door verification and Forms 6, 6A, 7, and 8, These should be made available on payment of a prescribed fee. The party also wants candidates to be given lists of Absentee/Shifted/Dead or Duplicate voters to prevent impersonation and bogus voting. The Sikkim Democratic Front is the only party demanding linkage of Aadhaar with Voter EPIC numbers.
The CPM has called for uploading Part 1 of Form 17C (voter turnout data) on the ECI website immediately after polling, followed by Part 2 (result data) post-declaration.
The CPM has also flagged concerns over the appointment process for the Chief Election Commissioner and Election Commissioners, calling for reforms to ensure impartiality. The BSP has said that the mandatory publication of criminal antecedents in newspapers is financially burdensome for candidates from weaker economic backgrounds. The CPI(M) echoed this, calling it an unfair cost for underfunded parties.
The BJP, meanwhile, has suggested dedicated cells for swift action on Model Code violations, complete videography at polling stations, and appointment of nodal officers to monitor poll-related violations on social media platforms.