Uttar Pradesh Election Officials Face Accountability Over Voter List Errors
Uttar Pradeshs election officials are under scrutiny as strict measures are enforced to address voter list inaccuracies.
Lucknow, October 25 (Daily Kiran) : The election department in Uttar Pradesh has adopted a stringent stance regarding discrepancies in the voter list revision process. Officials will face severe consequences if errors in the voter list are repeated.
Commissioners are now required to intensively supervise the preparation of voter lists within their divisions. Should any irregularities be identified, the accountability of the respective district election officer will also come under scrutiny. Additionally, the feeding of forms related to the voter list by computer assistants has been halted.
On October 24, a virtual meeting was held with commissioners, district election officers, electoral registration officers (EROs), assistant electoral registration officers, and computer assistants to discuss preparations for the special summary revision (SSR) of the voter lists for assembly constituencies. The meeting addressed complaints related to the voter list, form feeding, duplicate entries, and the accountability of officials.
It was emphasized that forms 6, 7, and 8 fed by computer assistants since the end date of the special intensive revision (SIR) on April 10, 2026, must be thoroughly examined to prevent incidents similar to those in Pilibhit. Any irregularities detected will hold the electoral registration officer, assistant electoral registration officer, and the relevant computer assistant accountable under Section 32 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950.
Moreover, if any negligence is found at the district election officer level, their responsibility will also be established. Officials have been instructed not to allow computer assistants to feed physically received application forms. All such forms must be digitized by booth-level officers (BLOs) using the BLO app. Special attention is required to ensure the safe storage of physically received application forms and their timely processing.
The Chief Electoral Officer’s office has directed officials to thoroughly study Section 32 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950. They also clarified that errors identified in complaints regarding the voter list, whether from political parties or social media, should not recur.
Officials were warned against sharing their ERONet login IDs and passwords with anyone. The meeting also stressed the importance of resolving pending applications promptly. EROs are to review all pending cases of forms 6, 7, and 8 daily and ensure their timely and compliant resolution. Complaints received from NGSP, PGRS, social media, and other channels since April 10 must also be addressed efficiently.
Officials were reminded of the online services available to voters. Under the ‘Book a Call with BLO’ feature on the ECI Net app and the voter service portal, no call request from citizens should remain pending for more than 48 hours. Strict action will be taken against BLOs who register voters as ‘unavailable’ without making contact or fail to respond to call requests promptly.
During the meeting, dissatisfaction was expressed regarding the delay in reporting complaints related to duplicate voter entries circulated on social media by district election officers from Bulandshahr, Sitapur, Ghaziabad, and Aligarh. They were instructed to submit their reports quickly.
Complaints regarding BLOs not arriving on time or being absent during special campaign days were also reviewed. Reports concerning absent BLOs were requested, and officials were clearly warned that such complaints would not be tolerated during upcoming special campaign days in the SSR.
Additionally, training was provided on the information available to officials through the ECI Net dashboard and various processes. Officials were instructed to update their personal mobile numbers on the portal instead of using CUG numbers to avoid disruptions due to BSNL network issues, as well as to change passwords immediately under the password policy.
The election department has called for all necessary measures to be taken promptly to ensure there are no duplicate entries in the draft voter list to be published during the upcoming SSR.
