A fresh controversy has emerged around the functioning of the Election Commission of India after an investigation by The Indian Express reported that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi formally raised objections at least 14 times over a period of 10 months.
According to the report, the objections related to several aspects of electoral-roll management, including the addition and deletion of voters, changes to Form 6, voter-deletion appeals and access to the Election Commission’s voter database. Four objections were reportedly recorded on a single day.
The report also highlighted concerns over the centralisation of electoral-roll database controls and the functioning of the digital systems used by the poll panel. The objections came amid the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, which began in Bihar in 2025 and has since been expanded to other parts of the country.
However, the Election Commission has disputed the suggestion of an institutional split. EC officials said that the objections were part of the normal decision-making process and that decisions, including those related to SIR, were approved unanimously by all three commissioners.
The developments have put the spotlight on the Election Commission’s internal decision-making process, particularly its handling of electoral rolls, voter data and the ongoing SIR exercise.
