Top Maharashtra poll official seeks more powers for EROs to handle voter discrepancies
Maharashtra's Chief Electoral Officer has requested the Election Commission to grant Electoral Registration Officers more discretion in handling electoral roll discrepancies. The move has sparked political debate, with the Congress party alleging it dilutes statutory authority.
Why it matters
Changes to electoral roll management processes are critical to democratic integrity and have become a point of contention between political parties in India.
Maharashtra Chief Electoral Officer S. Chockalingam has requested the Election Commission of India to make changes to the ECINet software to allow Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) to exercise discretion on anomalies in electoral rolls, an official said on Tuesday (September 29, 2026).
Referring to a news item in The Indian Express , which first reported the development, an official in the State poll body said the senior IAS officer made the request to the Commission in a letter sent on September 24.
The request has been accepted, the official told PTI .
“Chief electoral officers from all states do send their suggestions to the Commission frequently and it is nothing new,” the official said.
“The software is always centralised, and notices are sent from there. We requested that EROs be allowed to make decisions on the notices regarding any discrepancy,” he said.
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