The Election Commission of India (ECI) has introduced a groundbreaking e-sign feature on its ECINET portal and mobile application. This new functionality mandates that individuals applying to register as voters, or seeking to delete or correct their existing voter details, must now verify their identity using their Aadhaar-linked mobile phone numbers.
According to a high-ranking ECI official, this significant feature was successfully launched in the second week of September.
The ECINET platform itself is a comprehensive digital hub, consolidating over 40 of the ECI’s previous mobile and web applications into a single, user-friendly interface. It officially commenced operations during the bye-elections held on June 19 across five Assembly constituencies in Kerala, Gujarat, Punjab, and West Bengal.
Previously, citizens could submit forms 6 (for additions), 7 (for deletions), and 8 (for corrections) through the Election Commission’s applications and portal by merely linking a phone number to an existing Electors Photo Identity Card (EPIC) number. This older system lacked robust verification, often raising concerns about whether the linked details genuinely belonged to the voter in question.
However, the new process introduces an essential additional step: once an applicant completes their form, they are redirected to a secure external portal managed by the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (CDAC). Here, they must enter their Aadhaar number to generate a one-time password (OTP), which is then sent to the mobile number registered with their Aadhaar account.
The applicant must then explicitly consent to this Aadhaar-based authentication to finalize the verification. Following successful verification, they are seamlessly returned to the ECINET portal to formally submit their application.
Addressing Concerns Over Electoral Fraud
This newly implemented e-sign feature by the Election Commission is particularly crucial, as it comes amidst increasing allegations of fraudulent activity involving the unauthorized deletion and addition of names on voter lists in various constituencies.
For instance, recent reports highlighted a detailed investigation by the Karnataka CID into a coordinated effort to remove 5,994 voters from the electoral rolls in the Aland Assembly constituency (Kalaburagi district) before the 2023 Assembly election. This scheme involved the alleged forging of Form 7 applications.
During a press conference on September 19, the Leader of the Opposition, Rahul Gandhi, specifically referenced the Aland case regarding fraudulent deletions and the Rajura constituency in Maharashtra for similar concerns related to illicit voter additions.
ECINET: A Centralized Digital Hub
It was on May 4 that the Election Commission initially announced the creation of ECINET, envisioning it as a singular, comprehensive platform designed to integrate more than 40 of its previously disparate mobile and web applications.
Following the June by-elections, a press release from the EC confirmed the successful implementation of several ECINET modules, with assurances that the platform would be fully operational in the subsequent weeks.
The Election Commission also noted that ECINET significantly expedited the uploading of voter turnout trends and the publication of index cards, making this information available within 72 hours of election results being declared. Crucially, presiding officers now directly upload turnout figures to ECINET, a vast improvement over the previous manual methods.
This direct upload mechanism through ECINET ensures that all presiding officers record and submit final turnout figures before concluding their duties at polling stations, leading to a much quicker dissemination of official turnout trends to the public.