The Election Commission refused to disclose software details used to flag voter roll anomalies during the Special Intensive Revision. In a reply dated October 16, the poll body cited trade secrets and RTI exemptions. It said no new software was procured, and EROs made all decisions based on official records.

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The Election Commission (EC) has refused to disclose the name and version of the software used to detect errors and anomalies in electoral rolls during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR), citing commercial confidence, trade secrets and intellectual property rights as grounds for withholding the information under the Right to Information (RTI) Act.

In its reply dated October 16, the poll body said no new software had been developed or procured specifically for the SIR exercise. It also maintained that decisions on adding or removing voters were taken by Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) based on facts and records.

The response followed an RTI application filed on July 27 by M A Mujeeb Ayyub, a social activist from Karimpur in Telangana, seeking details of the technology used by the EC to identify errors, anomalies and inconsistencies in electoral rolls during the revision exercise.

Ayyub had sought information on whether the software or any artificial intelligence (AI) platform automatically flagged voter records for verification, correction or deletion. He also asked the commission to disclose the workflow followed after such records were identified.

The application further sought details on whether AI, machine learning, predictive analytics or automated decision support systems were used at any stage of the SIR exercise.

However, the EC did not provide specific details of the technology involved. Responding to the questions on the use of automated systems, it said the information sought was a “clarification which does not come under the information as per Section 2(f) of RTI Act”.

An EC official said details of software and algorithms were conventionally not shared in response to RTI requests.

The commission's response is in line with earlier instances in which manufacturers of electronic voting machines (EVMs), including Bharat Electronics Ltd and Electronics Corporation of India Ltd, declined to share their source codes in response to RTI queries.