Indian Express investigation finds two Election Commissioners raised on-record objections 14 times over SIR functioning

Indian Express investigation finds two Election Commissioners raised on-record objections 14 times over SIR functioning

An investigation published by The Indian Express on 25 September 2026 found that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi formally objected on record at least 14 times over the past 10 months, four of them on a single day, to decisions taken during the nationwide Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, including changes to the new voter registration form, the deletion and restoration of names in West Bengal, and access to the ECINet electoral roll database. Both Commissioners separately complained that key communications had been issued in the Commission's name without the approval of all three members, and Sandhu called one such change, involving the new voter registration form, unauthorised and illegal. The newspaper said the Commission did not respond to a questionnaire it sent seeking answers on the issues raised.