Why In News?

In October 2026, public protests erupted over internal executive dissent and the disenfranchisement of 130 million voters during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) drive.

What Is The Election Commission Of India?

It is an autonomous, permanent constitutional body established on 25th January 1950 under Part XV of the Constitution to ensure the conduct of free, fair, and impartial elections.

Article 324(1) vests the responsibility of superintendence, direction, and control of the preparation of electoral rolls, conduct of all elections to Parliament, State Legislatures, and the offices of the President and Vice-President of India, exclusively in the ECI.

Under Article 324(2), the poll body consists of the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) and such number of other Election Commissioners (ECs) as fixed by the President; it transitioned from a single-member entity into a multi-member commission in 1993.

Article 325 guarantees a single general electoral roll for every territorial constituency and strictly prohibits the exclusion or inclusion of any citizen on grounds of religion, race, caste, or sex.

Article 326 establishes universal adult suffrage, conferring voting rights on every citizen aged 18 years or older who is not otherwise disqualified by law on grounds of non-residence, unsoundness of mind, crime, or corrupt practices.

Article 327 and Article 328 empower Parliament and State Legislatures respectively to enact electoral laws, while Article 329 bars judicial interference in electoral matters once the election process is notified, except through an election petition.

What Is The Constitutional Role And Functions Of The Election Commission?

Administrative Functions: The ECI determines territorial constituency boundaries under the Delimitation Commission Act, prepares and periodically updates electoral rolls, issues Electoral Photo Identity Cards (EPIC), notifies election schedules, and scrutinizes nomination papers.

Advisory Jurisdiction: The Commission offers binding advice to the President of India and State Governors regarding the post-election disqualification of sitting Members of Parliament (MPs) under Article 103 and Members of Legislative Assemblies (MLAs) under Article 192.

Quasi-Judicial Mandate: Operating under Section 29A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, the ECI registers political parties, resolves intra-party split disputes, and allocates election symbols under the Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968.

Enforcement of Model Code of Conduct (MCC): The ECI enforces the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) during election cycles to prevent the misuse of official government machinery, curb hate speech, and prohibit the announcement of unbudgeted populist grants by ruling parties.

Residuary Powers under Article 324: In Mohinder Singh Gill vs Chief Election Commissioner (1978), the Supreme Court held that Article 324 operates as a plenary "reservoir of power" empowering the ECI to issue binding directives where statutory election laws are silent, provided it acts fairly and non-arbitrarily.

What Triggered The Controversy Over Special Intensive Revision (SIR) Of Electoral Rolls?

The Special Intensive Revision (SIR) is a comprehensive house-to-house enumeration exercise conducted under Section 21(3) of the Representation of the People Act, 1950 read with Article 324 to purge stale, duplicate, shifted, and non-citizen entries from voter registries.

Scale: Phase II of the SIR across 9 States and 3 Union Territories resulted in a 10.2% overall reduction in the registered electorate, stripping 64.4 million names during draft revisions and an additional 6.3 million names post-adjudication.

Exclusionary Verification Criteria: Electors not listed in legacy voter lists dating back to 2003 were required to produce 11 specific proofs of citizenship, while commonly held documents such as Aadhaar cards, ration cards, and EPIC cards were initially excluded by administrative decree.

House-to-House Enumeration Failure: In widespread instances, Booth Level Officers (BLOs) deleted voter records without serving mandatory individual written show-cause notices or conducting fair field hearings, violating established procedural norms under the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960.

Institutional Dissent and Judicial Intervention: Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi submitted 14 formal written notes of dissent against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over unauthorized changes to Form-6, technical centralization of ECINet, and arbitrary court appeals in West Bengal.

Supreme Court Safeguards: In ADR vs Election Commission of India (2026), the Supreme Court upheld the constitutional validity of SIR under Section 21(3) of the RPA, 1950, but mandated that deletions based on citizenship doubts must be referred to competent authorities with a full right to be heard.

Why Is Electoral Integrity Facing New Challenges In Contemporary India?

Allegations of Partisan Conduct: Many Social activists and opposition entities allege that the ECI demonstrates asymmetric deference toward the ruling party, selectively enforcing the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) while ignoring high-level campaign infractions.

Risk of Systemic Voter Exclusion: Arbitrary documentation thresholds and compressed revision timelines during the SIR drive disproportionately impact internal migrant laborers, urban poor, and marginalized socio-religious minorities who lack legacy paperwork.

Erosion of Public Trust: Widespread street protests by youth movements and political alliances demanding the resignation of the CEC reflect a severe trust deficit regarding institutional neutrality.

Disputes Over Polling Technology: Continuous political friction surrounds the absolute reliance on Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs), prompting demands for 100% paper audit trail verification through Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trails (VVPATs).

• Judicial Scrutiny of VVPAT Audits: In the VVPAT Verification Case, the Supreme Court rejected petitions demanding 100% paper count, upholding the randomized audit of 5 polling booths per assembly segment while ordering the physical sealing of symbol loading units.

Political Polarization and Acceptance of Outcomes: Growing ideological polarization has led political parties to routinely contest the legitimacy of election results, delegitimizing the electoral referee and eroding democratic consensus.

What Is The Nature And Evolution Of Modern-Day Electoral Malpractice?

Shift from Physical to Technological Manipulation: Traditional physical booth capturing and ballot box stuffing have largely been replaced by subtle administrative manipulations of digital voter databases and voter list purges.

Cybersecurity Vulnerabilities in Electoral Systems: Centralization of electoral databases under centralized software modules like ECINet raises technical concerns regarding data security, backend access, and software integrity.

Digital Disinformation and Communal Polarization: Unregulated social media networks and encrypted messaging platforms accelerate the rapid dissemination of fake news, hate speech, and fake narratives designed to polarize voters.

AI-Generated Deepfakes and Synthetic Media: Strategic deployment of artificial intelligence to generate hyper-realistic synthetic audio and video deepfakes of political leaders creates severe cognitive manipulation risks during active campaign windows.

Micro-Targeted Political Messaging: Big-data analytics and voter profiling allow political campaigns to deploy micro-targeted psychological operations, bypassing traditional media regulations and shadow-funding limits.

Online Campaign Violations: Digital landscape complicates the enforcement of the 48-hour election silence period under Section 126 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, rendering traditional regulatory frameworks ineffective.

What Are The Major Institutional And Structural Concerns Governing ECI?

Executive Dominance in Appointments: Under the Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Act, 2023, the selection panel comprises the Prime Minister, a Union Cabinet Minister, and the Leader of Opposition, giving the executive a structural 2 out of 3 majority.

Removal of Judicial Oversight: The 2023 Act excluded the Chief Justice of India (CJI) from the selection committee, diluting the independent collegium model established by the Supreme Court in Anoop Baranwal vs Union of India (2023).

Asymmetry in Security of Tenure: While the CEC enjoys constitutional protection against removal equivalent to a Supreme Court Judge under the Article 324(5), Election Commissioners can be removed purely on the recommendation of the CEC.

Lack of Financial Autonomy: Administrative expenditure of the ECI is voted by Parliament rather than being automatically charged on the Consolidated Fund of India, leaving its operational budget subject to executive discretion.

Absence of Independent Cadre: The ECI possesses no permanent field staff and relies entirely on deputed state administrative officers, Electoral Registration Officers (EROs), and Booth Level Officers (BLOs) who remain under the operational control of state governments.

Opaque Internal Decision-Making: Absence of statutory rules governing internal commission meetings has enabled unilateral decision-making by the CEC, triggering formal written dissents from fellow Election Commissioners.

What Measures Can Strengthen Indian Electoral Democracy?

Restoring an Independent Judicial Selection Collegium: Re-institute judicial presence on the selection panel and grants equal constitutional protection against removal to all Election Commissioners under Article 324(5). 

• Example: Law Commission 255th Report Model, multi-member selection committee comprising the Prime Minister, Leader of Opposition, and Chief Justice of India, with administrative expenses charged on the Consolidated Fund of India.

Statutory Disqualification at the Charge-Framing Stage: Amend Section 8 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 to bar individuals facing judicial charges for heinous offenses punishable by 5 years or more from contesting elections. 

• Example: Law Commission 244th Report Recommendation, automatic statutory disqualification upon formal framing of charges by a criminal court for severe offenses, subject to fast-track court trials within 1 year.

Judicial Supervision Over Voter List Revision: Enforce mandatory judicial oversight over voter roll deletions, requiring public display of draft deletion lists and multi-tiered appellate mechanisms before final publication. 

• Example: Supreme Court West Bengal Judicial Review Model (2026), deployment of around 700 judicial officers under Article 142 to adjudicate 6 million contested voter roll deletions.

Regulating AI-Driven Misinformation and Digital Campaigns: Mandate cryptographic watermarking on digital political advertisements and establish swift takedown protocols under the Information Technology Rules, 2021.

• Example: Voluntary Code of Ethics Model (2019/2026), contractual obligation on major tech platforms (Meta, Google, X) to process ECI takedown requests within 3 hours during the silence period.

Establishing an Independent ECI Secretariat: Provide the ECI with an autonomous permanent cadre of electoral administrative officers to eliminate operational reliance on state government bureaucracies. 

• Example: Goswami Committee Recommendation (1990), creation of a dedicated, non-deputationist administrative secretariat under Article 324 to manage national and state electoral operations.

Conclusion

Preserving the integrity of Indian elections demands urgent structural reforms to insulate the Election Commission of India from executive dominance, enforce absolute transparency in voter list revisions, and eliminate criminalization to protect universal adult franchise.

Source: THEHINDU