Election Commission declines RTI request for voter roll software details, citing intellectual property exemptions

NEW DELHI — The Election Commission of India has declined a Right to Information (RTI) request seeking technical details, algorithms, and software versions used to identify errors in voter rolls during the SIR exercise, citing commercial confidence, trade secrets, and intellectual property exemptions.

The response, dated October 16, was issued following an application filed on July 27 by M A Mujeeb Ayyub, a social activist from Karimpur in Telangana. Ayyub had sought comprehensive details on whether artificial intelligence, machine learning, or automated decision support systems were deployed to flag, correct, or delete voter roll entries, alongside workflows for automated record processing.

In its reply, the Election Commission stated that no new software had been developed or procured for the SIR exercise. The commission maintained that Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) independently decide on the inclusion or exclusion of electors based strictly on facts and records. Furthermore, the commission contended that queries regarding automated flagging and artificial intelligence sought clarifications rather than material information defined under Section 2(f) of the RTI Act.

Elaborating on the decision, an Election Commission official noted that software and algorithm specifications are conventionally withheld from RTI disclosures. The official pointed to precedent, noting that public sector entities such as Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) manufacturers Bharat Electronics Ltd and the Electronics Corporation of India Ltd have similarly declined to share EVM source codes in response to previous RTI queries.