TWO ELECTION COMMISSIONERS RAISED 14 OBJECTIONS OVER POLL PANEL DECISIONS: REPORT

September 23, 2026

NEW DELHI: Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi formally objected at least 14 times over the past 10 months to decisions and orders of the Election Commission that they said had been taken without their knowledge, according to an investigation by The Indian Express. The objections covered voter registration, deletion and restoration of names, appeals against electoral-roll decisions, changes to Form 6 and the management of the voter database.

The investigation, based on internal notes and correspondence, reported that the two commissioners questioned a change to Form 6, the application used by new voters. Sandhu described the change as “unauthorised and illegal”, while records showed that both commissioners had argued that the form could not be altered without amendments to the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960.

The commissioners also raised concerns over the centralisation of electoral-roll software through the ECINet system. They reportedly argued that restrictions on access could affect the statutory powers of Electoral Registration Officers and other officials responsible for preparing and updating voter rolls. On related issues concerning work allocation and IT oversight, the two commissioners separately approached Cabinet Secretary T.V. Somanathan, according to the investigation.

The Election Commission has acknowledged the existence of the internal notes but described them as part of its normal decision-making process. It said written observations, technical suggestions and internal checks are standard institutional practices and maintained that all final decisions taken by the Commission, including those relating to SIR, were unanimous.