As far as the voters are concerned, they need to be vigilant and well aware of their rights. Universal suffrage granted by the Indian constitution set it apart from almost all other constitutions from day one. In the past the focus of the ECI and state officials was on ensuring that no eligible voter was left out. However, this has undergone a shift in recent times, writes former IAS officer Sunil Kumar
The urban local government elections were recently conducted successfully in Kerala and Maharashtra. An important point to note is that the elections were held on time in Kerala while in Maharashtra they were considerably delayed. In case of Maharashtra, the State Election Commission (SEC) was galvanized into action only after the Supreme Court threatened to haul up the State Election Commissioner for contempt of court! On the other hand, the State Government in Kerala approached the Election Commission of India (ECI) and the Supreme Court to adjust the announced schedule for completion of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in view of the ongoing local government elections. I will be examining the local government election process in Kerala and Maharashtra especially on the response of SEC and the stakeholders to issues relating to electoral rolls in part 1, the electoral strategy deployed by political parties in part 2 and the voter turnout and election results in the concluding part 3.
Electoral Rolls
The eligibility criteria for citizens given the right to vote is the same for Lok Sabha, Vidhan Sabha and all local government elections. All citizens attaining the age of 18 on the stipulated cut off date are eligible to be registered as voters. The RP Act 1950 has been amended in 2021 and now citizens attaining the age of 18 at the beginning of each quarter during a year are eligible for registration as a new voter. This amendment was effected to ensure that citizens are not deprived of their right to vote and the electoral roll is as uptodate as is physically possible. This provision, theoretically, diminished the case for having separate set of rules for preparation of electoral rolls for Lok Sabha & Vidhan Sabha and those for local government elections. This also was an important element behind the recommendation of the High Level Committee headed by former President Shri Ram Nath Kovind that elections to Lok Sabha and state assemblies be synchronised first and in the second phase, local government elections should be held within 100 days of Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha elections. At present, 22 States/UTs are reportedly using the electoral rolls prepared by the ECI in toto or as the basis of their own rolls for conducting local government elections.
Kerala is one state which has electoral rolls for local government elections prepared by the State Election Commission (SEC) while the Maharashtra SEC uses the electoral roll prepared by the ECI. Consequently, before the current cycle of elections to Municipal Councils and Municipal Corporations commenced, political parties led delegations to both the State Election Commissioner and the Chief Electoral Officer of Maharashtra and demanded rectification of deficiencies in the electoral rolls[i]. These anomalies were reportedly widespread[ii]. Anomalies in the electoral rolls prepared by the SEC for Kerala local government elections were also reported[iii] (although not to the same extent as in Maharashtra).
The response of the SEC of Maharashtra and Kerala to complaints related to the errors in electoral rolls were different. The SEC, Kerala took specific steps in response such as restoring the Electoral Photo Identity Card (EPIC) numbers and search facility on the portal; allowing additions, deletions, corrections, and changes in ward assignments to be made up to a specified deadline before publication of the final voters’ list and enabling filing of complaints about duplicate entries before Electoral Registration Officers (EROs). It also replaced local poll officials in a few places where serious complaints surfaced about errors in the voter lists (e.g., deleted names and incorrect assignments) and opened a fresh window for revision to allow corrections. These steps were aimed at increasing transparency, rectifying defects caused by draft roll inaccuracies and restoring trust of all stakeholders in the independence and impartial functioning of the SEC.
On the other hand, in Maharashtra, the SEC acknowledged that it could not itself add or remove names from the rolls prepared by the ECI, which was a separate constitutional authority. This effectively tied the hands of the SEC to effectively address the complaints received. However, for the record, it did issue a series of administrative instructions to municipal and election officials to ensure enhanced scrutiny of the voter lists, facilitate corrections and actively respond to objections received before and during polls.
This brings to the fore some of the challenges in the way of implementation of the appealing slogan of ‘one nation, one election’. In the proposed conference for SECs being organized by the ECI on February 24, 2026[iv] the ECI would be showcasing the ECINET digital platform which brings separate apps for voters, officers and candidates on one platform and would allow citizens to fill up electoral registration forms and their processing by officials, real-time data of voter turnout during polling and results on the day of counting of votes. The ECI is also expected to offer to SEC’s it’s technical help in developing a similar platform for them.
All these developments seem to be very positive in the normal course. However, there could be some ‘unintended consequences’ of such collaboration between the ECI and the SECs of which we have seen a fleeting glimpse in the Maharashtra local government elections. The experience of the citizens, political parties and the SECs themselves indicate that excessive dependence on technology, including AI powered digital technology, can become a millstone around one’s neck.
A sample case is one where a voter has the EPIC with her details and photo of another woman and, despite numerous representations, no remedial action is forthcoming by the ECI. Then there is the case where centrally generated notices were sent to voters under the digital signatures of the Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) via their logins on the ECINET/ERONET portal even without their knowledge although, as per law, it is their legal duty to issue notices under their signature. If names of voters get wrongly deleted, then what is the remedial action open before the SEC if they cannot add or delete names since the electoral rolls have been prepared by the ECI. Creating a hierarchy among two constitutional authorities, tasked with the responsibility of conducting free and fair elections to Parliament & State Legislative Assemblies on the one hand and all local government elections on the other, may not be a very great idea.
Then there is the case of manipulation of electoral registration process by workers of political parties. With the blurring of ideological boundaries among political parties and excessive dependence on money to even hire workers who can act as booth level workers and ensure genuine participation in the examination of booth level electoral rolls, most political parties in Maharashtra (other than the ruling alliance), struggled to effectively participate even in the scrutiny of draft electoral rolls let alone identifying manipulation in electoral rolls[v] since they hardly had any army of committed workers in the towns and villages. Thus, they could do precious little other than submitting memorandums to the SEC based on whatever information they could garner from the information publicly available.[vi] Hence, it was noticed that even formal complaints were not filed before the competent authorities and the officials could get away with the response that they had received no complaints. The situation was different in Kerala where both the ruling alliance (LDF) and the opposition (UDF) had a cadre of grassroots workers at the booth level.
As far as the voters are concerned, they need to be vigilant and well aware of their rights. Universal suffrage granted by the Indian constitution set it apart from almost all other constitutions from day one. In the past the focus of the ECI and state officials (acting under it’s superintendence) was on ensuring that no eligible voter was left out. However, this has undergone a shift in recent times. With increased digitization of electoral rolls, discrepancies such as name of voters featuring in multiple constituencies, or at different places in the same electoral roll (duplicate voters) etc. have come to the fore. Hence, focus of the ECI and the SEC has shifted to preparation of ‘clean’ electoral rolls. Digital tools developed are also prone to manipulation if all stakeholders are not vigilant. In local government elections each vote counts, perhaps much more than in the Vidhan Sabha and Lok Sabha elections. Political parties and candidates vie with each other to get the names of their supporters included and their opponents excluded. In a functioning and vibrant democracy this is expected to serve as a system of checks and balances which ensures purity of elections. However, the lesson for voters in the changed scenario is that they need to be conscious of their right as citizens and be prepared to walk the extra mile to safeguard their right to vote. This task can no longer be left upon the political parties alone.
With focus shifting from the ‘polling’ day and the day of ‘counting’ to the basic issue of preparation of electoral rolls, wherein the fate of those citizens who can vote or not vote is decided, the task in hand for political parties has undergone a dramatic shift in the last five years or so. Now engaging or galvanizing party workers only during the period of elections (once in five years) will just not do. Party workers need to be alert and aware of the entire process of preparation of electoral rolls and regularly taking up the cause of ‘new’ voters and ensuring that names of genuine voters are not deleted. They need to be fully adept at the digital process too and empowered to file objections before the right authorities the moment anything suspicious comes to their notice. For achieving this, political parties would need to shift their attention from the ‘candidates’ to the ‘workers’.
This shift would herald a pardigm shift in how politics is conducted at all levels. Political parties would need to retain their core group of party workers in every booth and ensure that they are active at the booth level throughout the year and not only for a few months prior to the elections. This would entail cost but the same would need to be mobilised by the political parties. Regular training would need to be imparted to their core party workers not only on all election related activities but also on how to improve the ‘citizen-connect’ of the party. It may also mean a shift from just assessing the ‘winnability quotient’ of candidates based on their political lineage, and access to financial and physical resources to their equation with the party workers. This would be further elaborated in the second part of this article where the campaign strategy of political parties in Kerala and Maharashtra would be examined.
In all probability, a single electoral roll for all elections would become a reality in all states/union territories sooner than later. However, the SEC would also need to be empowered by law to undertake addition, deletion of voters before local government elections. It cannot plead helplessness when obvious discrepancies are brought to notice. The same officials who are entrusted with the responsibility of preparing electoral rolls for the ECI should also be made responsible for preparing the electoral rolls for the SEC and the SEC should exercise the same powers as the ECI. This should be ensured by law. It will help greatly if the delimitation of wards for local government elections is undertaken in such a manner as to include all voters assigned to a particular polling booth. This step will greatly reduce discrepancies in the electoral rolls for local government elections.
Ultimately there isn’t a greater heart break for a voter than to go to the polling booth and then be turned back on the ground that his/her name does not figure in the ‘final’ voter list. An electoral roll free of all discrepancies constitutes the foundation on which the whole edifice of free and fair elections is built.
(Sunil Kumar is a visiting Senior Fellow associated with the Centre for Cooperative Federalism & Multilevel Governance in Pune International Centre and a former civil servant. Views expressed are personal.)
[i] Large-scale anomalies in voters’ list, postpone Maharashtra local body elections, say Opposition parties; The Hindu, October 16, 2025 12:42 pm IST – MUMBAI;https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/maharashtra/large-scale-anomalies-in-voters-list-postpone-maharashtra-local-body-elections-say-opposition-parties/article70168369.ece
[ii] Over 11 Lakh Duplicate Entries in Mumbai; Voters Found ‘Living’ in Coaching Centres in Nanded: Reports; The Wire; 30 November, 2025; https://thewire.in/politics/maharashtra-voter-rolls-over-11-lakh-duplicate-entries-in-mumbai-voters-found-in-coaching-centres-in-nanded
[iii] Political parties complain of electoral roll discrepancies in Kochi; The Hindu, December 09, 2025, Kochi: https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/kerala/political-parties-complain-of-electoral-roll-discrepancies-in-kochi/article70375887.ece
[iv] EC to showcase ll-in-one app to state panels, with offer to develop versions; The Indian Express, Tuesday, February 17, 2026, New Delhi, Late City edition
[v] Nearly 15 lakh new voters in Maharashtra since assembly polls, but no objection from parties; PTI: Sep 19, 2025; https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/nearly-15-lakh-new-voters-in-maharashtra-since-assembly-polls-but-no-objection-from-parties/articleshow/123983979.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst
[vi]Maharashtra Local Body Polls: 600+ Voters at Two Coaching Institutes In Nanded; Himanshi Dahiya; Published: 26 Nov 2025, https://www.thequint.com/news/politics/maharashtra-local-body-polls-nanded-voter-list-600-voters-at-two-coaching-institutes?utm_source=chatgpt.com
