Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi met at Nirvachan Sadan in New Delhi on Saturday, amid a controversy over reported differences within the three-member Election Commission of India (ECI) over decisions linked to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
The September 26 meeting came days after a report by The Indian Express said Sandhu and Joshi had formally objected on several occasions over the past 10 months to decisions and orders concerning voter registration, deletion and restoration of names and the management of electoral-roll data.
Following the meeting, the ECI issued a press note covering the enrolment of new voters, extensions to the ongoing SIR exercise and concerns raised in media reports about the commission's internal functioning. It also set out the poll panel's position on a letter sent by Sandhu and Joshi to the Cabinet Secretary.
Election Commission sets out position on reported differences
The latest controversy stems from reports that Sandhu and Joshi had raised objections on several occasions to decisions and instructions issued during the SIR process. The Indian Express reported that the two commissioners had questioned, among other things, changes to Form 6 for new voters and the functioning and access of systems supporting electoral rolls.
The report said the two commissioners had also written to the Cabinet Secretary over changes in work allocation that they believed affected oversight of the information technology systems supporting electoral rolls. Their concerns were reportedly copied to CEC Gyanesh Kumar.
The ECI, however, has set out a series of decisions following its meeting on Saturday.
ECI outlines changes to SIR notice and hearing process
The commission said that people who have received notices during the ongoing SIR for being unmapped or for logical discrepancies will no longer necessarily have to appear before the Electoral Registration Officer or Assistant Electoral Registration Officer.
The ECI said:
"In case of any person to whom notice has been issued during the ongoing SIR, for being unmapped and logical discrepancies, BLOs will visit the homes of such persons for collection of documents and thereafter upload them on the ECINet, for decision by the ERO. Such persons need not be called for hearing to ERO/AERO office. Only in exceptional circumstances, as decided by the ERO, the hearing will be held preferably online. Any adult member of the family can be authorized by the elector to attend the hearing on their behalf, if required. Facilities for the online hearing to be strengthened."
The commission also said District Election Officers would establish help desks and organise special camps for vulnerable groups.
"DEOS (District Election Officers) will create adequate number of help desks/hold special camps for the people living in night shelters, labor, poor people, homeless etc. as per requirement."
ECI to review ECINet, extends deadlines in Delhi and Maharashtra
On Form 6, the ECI said the declaration attached to the form for the SIR exercise had been upheld by the Supreme Court.
"The declaration attached to Form 6 for SIR has been upheld by the Hon'ble Supreme Court. For non-SIR period, the Forms applicable as per Rules (the Registration of Electors Rules 1960) will be used."
The commission also addressed concerns over access to the ECINet system. It said field officers have role-based access based on their statutory powers and announced a review by a committee headed by a senior deputy election commissioner and including an independent expert from an IIT or IIIT.
"Field officers have role-based access to the ECINET system as per their statutory powers. A Committee headed by Sr. Deputy Election Commissioner (DEC) and including an independent expert from IIT/IIIT will review the ECINET to double-check that it complies with the provisions of the Acts and Rules and submit report to the Commission. Various upgradations of the portal have already been made based on the inputs from State CEOs in the past few months. In case, any further flexibility is required by the field officers, that will be made operational. Henceforth, all the new initiatives about IT modules and portals will be discussed in the Committee of Officers (COO) before approval by the Commission."
The ECI also extended the deadlines for filing claims and objections in Delhi and Maharashtra.
"In view of the request received from CEO Delhi, the period for filing claims and objections has been extended by the Commission till 30 (th) October, 2026. The period of disposal of notices and claims & objections has been extended till 30 (th) November 2026. Also, as per the request received from CEO Maharashtra, the period for filing claims and objections in Maharashtra has been extended by the Commission till 12 (th) October, 2026. The period of disposal of notices and claims & objections in Maharashtra has been extended till 10 (th) November 2026."
New voter enrolment becomes a key issue
The enrolment of young and first-time voters has emerged as another major point of contention amid the SIR exercise.
The ECI has said that 2.73 crore voters aged between 18 and 28 had been added to electoral rolls since the SIR exercise began in 2025. The poll body has rejected claims that the absence of an annual Summary Revision had halted the enrolment of young voters, pointing to the continuous updation of electoral rolls.
According to the ECI, eligible citizens can register throughout the year and do not have to wait for an annual revision. The four qualifying dates for attaining the age of 18 are January 1, April 1, July 1 and October 1.
The issue has also centred on Form 6, which is used to apply for inclusion in the electoral roll. The Indian Express reported that a new declaration linked applications to the previous SIR, asking applicants about the presence of their parents or grandparents in the earlier electoral roll.
The wider controversy has triggered a political row, with Opposition parties questioning the conduct of the SIR exercise and the functioning of the poll panel. The BJP and supporters of the commission have rejected allegations of wrongdoing, while the ECI has maintained that its decisions and electoral reforms have followed established legal and procedural requirements.
The September 26 meeting between Kumar, Sandhu and Joshi therefore came at a time when both the SIR exercise and the internal functioning of the poll panel are under heightened public and political scrutiny.