Election Commission Says No Commissioner Dissent Since February 2025 Amid SIR Row

Election Commission dissent has become a major point of discussion amid the ongoing controversy over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. Election Commission sources told India Today on Thursday that none of the three Election Commissioners has dissented on any decision since February 19, 2025, maintaining that decisions of the poll panel have been unanimous.

The clarification follows a report by The Indian Express alleging that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi formally recorded objections 14 times over 10 months on decisions linked to the SIR exercise. The reported objections included issues involving Form 6, electoral database access and voter deletions.

EC maintains decisions were unanimous

According to sources cited by the Election Commission, SIR is a statutory process aimed at identifying dead, duplicate, fake and shifted voters while ensuring eligible voters remain on electoral rolls.

The Commission has also said there has been no change to Form 6, which is used by people seeking to register as voters. On the legal status of SIR, the poll body has pointed to proceedings in the Supreme Court, saying the exercise has not been suspended and has continued with safeguards for voters.

The Commission has described SIR as a long-established process involving verification and mapping of electoral records.

Questions over electoral database and officials

The poll body has maintained that the addition and deletion of names is decentralised and handled by Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) and Assistant Electoral Registration Officers (AEROs), rather than directly by the Chief Election Commissioner.

According to sources, nearly 25,000 EROs and AEROs involved in the process have not complained about it.

The Commission has also cited specific cases raised during the revision. In Goa, 97 voters were initially left out of the final roll because of a technical issue. The EC said 88 names have since been restored, while three people were found to be Portuguese citizens and six were abroad when verification took place.

The contrasting accounts have kept attention on the Election Commission’s decision-making process and the reported objections. The Commission has said differing views can arise during internal discussions, but its final decisions have remained unanimous.