Statement of Lok Raj Sangathan, 3 October 2026
The right to vote is the foundation of the electoral process. Yet a citizen can be deprived of this right because of an error in a database, a difference in the spelling of a name or the absence of an old document. The institution responsible for the electoral rolls possesses enormous power. But the people have no effective mechanism to supervise this institution or hold it to account.
This contradiction has been sharply exposed by recent developments. Crores of people have had to struggle to protect their place on the voter lists. At the same time, serious questions have been raised about decisions taken within the Election Commission of India (ECI). There are demands for the resignation and removal of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. Some organisations have called for an independent investigation and action against those responsible for illegally excluding voters.
These demands are justified. However, the present crisis raises a larger question. Should electoral authority itself be reorganised and brought under people’s control?
The right to vote is under attack
The Special Intensive Revision, or SIR, required citizens across the country to establish their eligibility afresh. More than 13 crore names were reportedly excluded from the draft electoral rolls during its successive phases.
The ECI says that the purpose of SIR is to remove the names of deceased persons, duplicate voters, those who have permanently shifted and others who are ineligible. Electoral rolls must certainly be accurate. But the responsibility for correcting them cannot be shifted onto the people.
Citizens who have voted for decades have received notices because their present details do not match old records. A difference in age, address, spelling or family information can place a person’s vote in danger. Migrant workers, elderly people, tenants, women whose names changed after marriage and families without old records face the greatest difficulties.
Many people do not know that their names have been excluded. Others must give up wages and make repeated visits to government offices. They have to prove that mistakes in official records are not their mistakes.
In West Bengal, 27.16 lakh voters were removed from the rolls. As many as 22.21 lakh appealed for inclusion. Only 1,607 were reportedly restored before the Assembly elections in April 2026. Those who were eligible but could not vote suffered an injury that cannot be repaired after the election.
The Supreme Court’s response has added insult to injury. A judge reportedly observed that those who could not vote in one election could vote in the next. More recently, the Chief Justice dismissed the urgency of thousands of pending appeals by saying that the approaching polls were “only by-elections”. A vote denied in one election cannot be restored in another. This underlines the need to recognise the right to vote as a fundamental and enforceable right.
The online electoral registration system, ECINet has added to the problem. It has brought electoral information into a central digital platform. Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) are legally responsible for the rolls in their constituencies. Yet the software system may prevent them from restoring a name unless permission is provided from the centre. 97 eligible voters from Goa were excluded from the electoral role after the ECINet prevented ground-level EROs from correcting the error.
Technology must assist people in exercising their rights. It must not become an authority standing between citizens and their right to vote.
The ECI has now announced a special drive to restore eligible voters left out during SIR. It has also announced a review of ECINet. These measures show the seriousness of the problems raised by citizens and political organisations. The SIR process must be stopped. Every eligible voter who has been wrongfully excluded must be restored to the rolls before any election is held.
The burden must be on the electoral authority to establish that a person is ineligible. No name should be deleted without prior notice, proper evidence, a hearing and an effective right of appeal. No appeal concerning the right to vote should remain undecided when polling begins.
The right to vote must be recognised as a fundamental right. It must be legally enforceable against every authority that attempts to deny it.
Immediate reforms and their limitations
The Chief Election Commissioner and the two other Election Commissioners are selected by a committee consisting of the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha and a Union Cabinet Minister nominated by the Prime Minister. The ruling government therefore commands two of the three positions on the Selection Committee.
Opposition parties have demanded that the Cabinet Minister be replaced by the Chief Justice of India. They argue that this will make the selection process more balanced. This demand deserves public discussion. However, it will not, by itself, make the Election Commission accountable to the people.
Whether a minister or a judge sits on the Selection Committee, citizens will still have no role in nominating, examining or approving the Commissioners. They will not be able to question them in a public forum or recall them. Electoral power will remain concentrated in a central institution standing above the people.
The entire decision-making process of the ECI must be transparent. The agenda and minutes of its meetings must be made public. Differences among Commissioners must be recorded. Every important decision must give clear reasons. The software and databases used to maintain electoral rolls must be independently audited.
The use of Electronic Voting Machines has also created widespread distrust. The integrity of an election cannot depend on faith in officials, manufacturers or technical experts. Every voter must be able to verify that the vote cast has been recorded and counted correctly. Candidates and citizens must be able to observe every stage of counting.
Lok Raj Sangathan calls for an end to the use of EVMs and a return to paper ballots. The custody of ballot papers, their counting and the declaration of results must be conducted openly in the presence of candidates and representatives of the people.
Private money also destroys equality in elections. Some parties and candidates command hundreds of crores of rupees, corporate support, media networks and professional digital campaigns. Others depend mainly on voluntary work and direct contact with the people. There can be no level playing field under such conditions.
Private financing of candidates must end. Electoral authorities must provide all candidates with equal access to meeting places, communication facilities and the media. No candidate should be able to purchase political influence. The state should fund the electoral process.
These reforms are necessary. But they must form part of a larger transformation of the electoral system.
Electoral authority must be reorganised
Electoral authority needs to be reorganised. There should be election commissions or committees at the state, district and constituency levels. Each must have clearly defined powers and must be accountable to the people at that level.
Every electoral constituency should have a permanent Constituency Committee. Its members should be elected or delegated from workplaces, villages, urban neighbourhoods and people’s organisations. They should serve for limited terms. Their meetings and decisions must be public. The people must have the power to recall them.
These committees should maintain electoral rolls through continuous local verification. Citizens should be able to inspect the rolls, challenge wrongful additions or deletions and demand action from officials responsible for errors.
The Constituency Committees should also organise public discussion on the needs and priorities of the constituency. They should enable people to nominate and select candidates.
At present, party leaderships decide who will contest. The electorate is asked to choose from candidates selected by others. This must change. Political parties may present their programmes and recommend candidates, but they should not control nominations.
Candidates should emerge from workplaces, villages, neighbourhoods and people’s organisations. Citizens should examine their records, question them publicly and decide who should be permitted to contest.
The political role of citizens cannot end after voting. Elected representatives must report regularly to their electors. The people who elect a representative must have the right to recall that person at any time.
People must also have the right to initiate legislation. A proposal receiving a defined level of public support must be considered by the appropriate elected body. Major questions affecting society should be decided through public consultation and referendums.
Lok Raj Sangathan calls on all citizens and organisations concerned with political rights to discuss these proposals. The present crisis must not end with the replacement of one Chief Election Commissioner or a minor alteration in the selection process.
The ECI and the entire electoral process must be brought under people’s control. People must cease to be periodic voters and permanent petitioners. They must become the organisers, supervisors and decision-makers of the political process. Only then can the Election Commission become an instrument of people’s power.
