New Delhi: The Election Commission of India (ECI) has implemented four changes to its ECINet software and procedures, giving electoral registration officers (EROs) greater discretion in handling notices issued during the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, The Indian Express reported. The changes were sought by Maharashtra chief electoral officer S. Chockalingam, amid widespread controversies over voter deletions from the lists due to “logical discrepancies”.Per the report, the changes allow voters to submit documents beyond the 13 categories listed in notices, make personal hearings exceptional, give EROs greater authority to decide cases involving discrepancies and remove mandatory upload of an extract from the previous SIR roll.Chockalingam had issued a letter on September 24 to senior ECI officials, urging that software restrictions were limiting the powers of EROs, who are legally responsible for preparing and revising voter rolls.Many voters received notices because their records could not be linked to the previous SIR roll or because the software flagged mismatches in their details such as in the spelling of a parent’s name or an implausible age gap between parent and child. Chockalingam had argued that these flags do not establish that a voter is ineligible.What are the changes? The ECI has removed the requirement for voters issued such notices to routinely attend personal hearings at the office of the ERO or assistant electoral registration officer (AERO). Instead, booth level officers (BLOs) visit voters’ homes, collect supporting documents and upload them on ECINet for the ERO or AERO to consider. Hearings may be held in exceptional cases, preferably online. Voters can submit documents beyond the 13 categories listed. The Maharashtra CEO’s office said in an October 1 press note that the BLO App had been updated with an “Any other Documents” option. The list, Chockalingam had argued, was indicative, not exhaustive, since voters from tribal, homeless and other vulnerable communities might not possess any of the specified documents. EROs or AEROs are given greater discretion in deciding cases involving logical discrepancies by assessing documents and field-level verification material themselves. Per the Maharashtra CEO’s September 30 instructions, eligible voters are to be given an opportunity to submit documents. Finally, the ECI has removed the mandatory upload of an “Extract of Last SIR” in every logical discrepancy case. This was based on Chockalingam’s argument that the software identified discrepancies by comparing voter records with the previous SIR roll, making the additional upload unnecessary.For our full coverage on the SIR and the issues it has brought to citizens, click here.