Can't share machine-readable voters list due to privacy concerns: CEC cites Supreme Court order

New Delhi: Citing a 2019 Supreme Court judgment, Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar on Sunday said that the voter list in machine-readable format cannot be shared with political parties.

He also said there was a difference between machine-readable and searchable formats.

Addressing a press conference here, Kumar said that the voter list available on its website can be searched using a voter card number and can also be downloaded.

He said the machine-readable format is barred as it can be edited and can lead to its misuse.

The Congress has been demanding the voter list in machine-readable format, saying it will help it flag flaws.

The CEC said that in 2019, the top court had sided with its stand that a machine-readable format cannot be shared as it could compromise voters' privacy.

Officials pointed out that the issue was already raised by the Congress before the Supreme Court in a writ petition in 2018 filed by Kamal Nath, the then president of the Madhya Pradesh Congress Committee.

Referring to the Supreme Court verdict in Kamal Nath vs Election Commission of India, (2019), the officials said that the top court had observed that it found force in the submission of EC.

Clause 11.2.2.2 of the Election Manual uses the expression "text mode". The draft electoral roll in text mode has been supplied to the petitioner, the apex court had said.

"The clause nowhere says that the draft electoral roll has to be put up on the Chief Electoral Officer's website in a 'searchable PDF'.

"Therefore, the petitioner cannot claim, as a right, that the draft electoral roll should be placed on the website in a 'searchable mode'. It has only to be in 'text mode' and it is so provided," the apex court had observed.