Another day, another @IndianExpress break on the EC. Sept 23. Our investigation breaks. The EC responds the same day:…

Another day, another @IndianExpress break on the EC. Sept 23. Our investigation breaks. The EC responds the same day: its platforms are protected against "unauthorized tampering", and EROs "function as per statutory powers." What we didn't know was this. The very next day, Maharashtra's Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) wrote to the EC in Delhi asking for FOUR changes to ECINet, so EROs could use the discretion the law already gives them. The same concern Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had put on record. Stay with me for @vallabhozarkarr's cracker of a story in today's edition (1/11)🧵

But first, what did Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi warn about ECINet, the software on which the voters' list now sits? On May 29, Joshi flagged "the gradual centralisation of the electoral roll database." Sandhu wrote on Aug 14 that EROs, the officers the law puts in charge of the roll, had their powers "curtailed by centralised control of ERONet at DG(IT) level." Our investigation also showed what this meant in Goa: 97 voters kept off the final SIR roll after the software blocked their EROs' decisions. (2/11)

Today, @vallabhozarkarr has the Maharashtra CEO's Sept 24 letter (a day AFTER our investigation appeared). What it shows, in short: the law gives the ERO a judgement to make. The software doesn't give the ERO the button to make it. (3/11)

So what changes did the Maharashtra CEO seek? Hearings: The rules let the ERO decide who must appear in person. ECINet has no option to waive a hearing. He asked for an "Exempted from Hearing" button, to spare senior citizens, the disabled and "other vulnerable groups". (4/11)

Documents: The 13 documents listed on the "logical discrepancy" notice issued to voters are "indicative and not exhaustive," he wrote. He asked for a 14th option, "Other/Other Equivalent Document," since tribal, homeless and sex-worker electors may have none from the list. (5/11)

Who decides: When the software flags a mismatch between an elector and the old roll, some cases must go to the district officer, even if the ERO is satisfied with the evidence. He wants EROs to decide these themselves. While seeking this, the Maharashtra CEO cites the law that makes the ERO responsible for drafting the voters' list. (6/11)

Extra paperwork: For every flagged case, ECINet makes the ERO upload a copy of the elector's entry from the last SIR roll. He wants this optional. The software already has that roll, since that's the one it used to flag the mismatch (or logical discrepancy). (7/11)

And a fifth ask, outside the software: EROs "have number of queries," he wrote, and "oral instructions from ECI or CEO are insufficient." He asked for written FAQs on the whole process. (8/11)

Just THREE days after its first defence, the EC changed course. After a full Commission meeting on Sept 26, it announced decisions that map almost item for item onto the concerns our investigation revealed. It also partly met Maharashtra's asks: EROs can now exempt flagged electors from personal hearings. Portal upgrades were already made on state CEOs' inputs, it said, and further flexibility "will be made operational" if field officers need it. (9/11)

So why does today's story matter? Software (ECINET) meant to help EROs do their job is stopping them from using their judgement. In Goa, 97 voters were deleted even though their EROs wanted them back. In Maharashtra, EROs now disposing of "logical discrepancy" notices are held back by ECINet's restrictive options from using the discretion the law gives them. The law gives the ERO a judgement to make. The software doesn't give the ERO the button to make it. You can read @vallabhozarkarr's story here: (10/11) indianexpress.com/article/cities…

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