The Indian Express on Thursday published fresh investigative reports following up on revelations about internal friction within the Election Commission of India over SIR. On Wednesday, the news media organisation reported that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had recorded written objections at least fourteen times over ten months regarding procedures under Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. The reports triggered intense political debate across the nation. Opposition parties alleged severe electoral irregularities, while the ruling party BJP and poll panel defended the internal notes as routine democratic deliberation and healthy administrative checks. Thursday's fresh reports present specific official documentation showing how central technology controls overrode local officers, altered voter registration requirements, and prompted internal appeals to the top civil service leadership.

What new reports say

In Goa, field officers verified ninety-seven eligible citizens who had been flagged for logical discrepancies during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR). Local electoral registration officers examined their supporting documents under procedures outlined by the Supreme Court and formally approved their inclusion in the final voters list. However, the state administration found itself unable to update the digital roll. The centralised ECINet software system, managed from New Delhi, lacked a rollback function for local staff.

Goa electoral officials dispatched eight urgent communications within seven days to central authorities requesting technical access to reinstate these individuals. Even after a Deputy Election Commissioner in Delhi directed the IT division to enable the changes in compliance with judicial orders, no technical access was granted. When the final electoral roll was published, all ninety-seven names were missing, depriving affected citizens of local voting rights and access to state healthcare welfare schemes.

The Goa incident illustrates broader concerns raised by Commissioners Sandhu and Joshi regarding the centralisation of the electoral roll database, Indian Express said. Although the ECINet software was launched to unify election platforms, the two commissioners warned that central IT management was restricting the statutory powers assigned to district officers under the Representation of the People Act. Proposals by the commissioners to conduct independent software audits using external experts from technical institutes were not acted upon.

Tensions inside the poll body escalated further when administrative oversight over the IT division was altered without panel consultation. In an unprecedented move, both election commissioners submitted separate letters to Cabinet Secretary TV Somanathan reporting the administrative breach. The commissioners subsequently issued a joint directive setting aside the administrative reallocation to restore existing oversight mechanisms.

Internal records further corroborate that Commissioners Sandhu and Joshi formally objected to unilateral modifications made to Form 6, the statutory application used by first-time voters. The digital portal was updated to ask applicants whether their family members appeared in older electoral rolls. While listed as optional on paper, the online portal prevented new applicants from submitting their registrations without answering the lineage query.

Both commissioners noted on official files that statutory forms established under the Registration of Electors Rules cannot be changed without central government approval and formal legal notifications. Warning that the additional requirement risked harassing young applicants and creating arbitrary hurdles based on parental history, the commissioners called for its immediate removal, though the modified portal requirement remained active.