India election body faces scrutiny over voter roll changes
A report of repeated internal objections has intensified questions about how voter revisions are managed, while the Election Commission says the disagreements reflect deliberations.
India’s Election Commission is facing renewed scrutiny after The Indian Express reported that two commissioners objected at least 14 times over 10 months to measures they said were issued without their agreement. The reported disputes covered registration rules, voter deletions and restorations, appeals and voter-list security.
The commission says the reported differences were part of deliberations, rather than formal statements of protest. It has also said access to voter lists is secure and decentralised, with local officers making decisions.
A voter roll revision begun in June 2025 has removed more than 13 million names, according to Al Jazeera’s account. Critics say document requirements place a heavier burden on poorer, migrant and marginalised voters; supporters argue the process removes deceased, fraudulent or otherwise ineligible entries.
Opposition parties allege the revisions could disenfranchise voters to benefit the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party. The supplied reporting does not establish the scale of wrongful removals or show that changes to the rolls altered election results.
The reported disagreements have sharpened concerns about transparency in the commission’s decisions and voter-list systems. The internal records and commissioners’ accounts cited in the reporting were not provided for independent review.
