New Delhi: The office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), Uttar Pradesh, Saturday ordered district election officers to immediately deactivate the ECINET login IDs of computer assistants (voter registration centre operators) at electoral registration officers’ offices.
Computer assistants are outsourced workers hired for data entry because local election officials don’t have the requisite training.
The CEO office said the action is being taken in response to complaints and information received from Pilibhit district regarding the “misuse” of ECINET login IDs provided to computer assistants.
“District election officers will instruct all electoral registration officers (EROs) in their districts to ensure immediate necessary action. The login IDs of operators at voter registration centers functioning in all assembly constituencies under the district will be deactivated, so that no operator at any voter registration center can perform any activity on the ECINET portal through their login ID,” the CEO office said in a post on X.
The CEO office also said that after all login IDs are deactivated, it will get confirmation from the ERO concerned.
“District election officers will personally verify the action taken in all assembly constituencies and ensure that a compliance report is immediately provided to the chief electoral officer’s office,” the office said.
The firm through which the assistants were hired was also directed to immediately terminate the service of the personnel assigned to Assembly Constituency 127-Pilibhit.
UP’s Pilibhit has seen large-scale errors during the special intensive revision (SIR) exercise, with details of other voters being displayed against the EPIC number of a large number of registered voters in the constituency.
As per the CEO office, an investigation revealed that a total of 13,779 forms were “erroneously” entered between 31 May 2026, and 29 August 2026, out of which 10,470 were approved.
The CEO Office Friday sought clarification in the matter from the Pilibhit district election officer and their predecessor.
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The Pilibhit errors
On 22 October, the CEO office had said that it will initiate legal action against both the current and former EROs in the case of irregularities found in the electoral roll of assembly constituency 127-Pilibhit. Additionally, instructions were issued to initiate departmental action against both EROs, and services of the computer assistant at the voter registration centre were also to be terminated.
This was after a detailed investigation report was received from the district election officer, Pilibhit, regarding the complaint concerning the display of details of another voter against the EPIC number of voters listed in the electoral roll of the constituency.
Legal action was initiated against the computer assistant at the voter registration centre of 127-Pilibhit, and the local ERO under Section 32 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950, and relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. At the same time, instructions were issued to conduct a thorough investigation into the role of the concerned assistant EROs in the case and to provide a report.
The CEO Office said Saturday that “to maintain the integrity, security, and transparency of tasks related to the electoral roll, strict and immediate compliance with these directives will be ensured at the highest priority”. “No laxity of any kind will be tolerated in this matter,” the CEO office added.
(Edited by Sunanda Ranjan)