UP to disable login IDs of 806 computer assistants amid voter roll ‘errors’

The Uttar Pradesh chief electoral officer’s (CEO) office has directed all district election officers (DEOs) to immediately deactivate the ECINET login IDs of 806 computer assistants deployed across the state’s Assembly constituencies.

The move is aimed at tightening security and accountability in electoral roll management after complaints of alleged misuse of login credentials on the portal in districts like Pilibhit and Azamgarh following the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls.

Each Assembly constituency has two computer assistants working as operators at voter registration centres in the offices of electoral registration officers (EROs). Their access to the ECINET portal is now being withdrawn to ensure that voter-related entries are made by the officials directly responsible for them.

Explaining the rationale, an election official told The Indian Express that the Election Commission had initially provided computer assistants access to the portal because many booth-level officers (BLOs) were not adequately trained to work on the BLO app.

However, with most BLOs now trained to use it, the need for operators’ assistance was no longer felt. “Only the BLO concerned should submit forms relating to the polling booth assigned to them now. Forms can reach the system either through online submission on the ECINET/BLO app or through physical submission, which will subsequently be digitised,” the official said.

The official added that the objective was to fix responsibility for every entry rather than allow multiple levels of operators to handle voter-related data. EROs will continue to have access to the system through their own login credentials and can oversee the process.

The issue of discrepancies in electoral roll entries has also come under scrutiny in Azamgarh. Referring to an investigation, the official said 10 different voters were found to have been entered under the name Vikas Yadav.

The discrepancies reportedly involved five polling booths. In its October 31 directive, the office of CEO Navdeep Rinwa asked DEOs to ensure that all computer assistants’ login IDs in their districts are marked inactive or disabled.

The respective EROs will have to confirm the deactivation, while DEOs must personally verify compliance across all Assembly constituencies and submit an action-taken report to the CEO’s office. Separately, the outsourcing agency concerned has been directed to immediately terminate the services of the computer assistant allegedly involved in the case related to Assembly constituency 127-Pilibhit.

The office said the instructions must be implemented on priority, stressing that no laxity will be tolerated in maintaining the integrity, security and transparency of electoral roll-related work. Maulshree Seth is an Assistant Editor with The Indian Express, based in Lucknow.

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