Who is Seema Khanna, EC's tech chief at the centre of the voter software row?

Election Commission officials rarely become the focus of public or political debate. But Director General (IT) Seema Khanna’s role has come under scrutiny as a storm brews over the functioning of electoral roll software and the powers of Electoral Registration Officers (EROs).According to an investigation by The Indian Express, Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi questioned whether Khanna had the legal authority to restrict the access of EROs on the ground and limit their statutory powers.Khanna heads the Election Commission’s IT department and oversees its digital and technology systems. She joined the poll panel in 2025 on deputation from the National Informatics Centre (NIC).At the heart of the row are ECINet and ERONet, software systems used by the Election Commission for electoral roll-related work. The ECI launched ECINet on January 22, 2026, bringing more than 40 apps and portals under one roof. Seema Khanna, the Commission’s Director General of IT, said the platform would enhance transparency, credibility and public trust. The controversy centres on allegations that control and access to electoral-roll databases have become increasingly centralised with the Election Commission’s IT department in Delhi, headed by Khanna.Under the Representation of the People Act, 1950, and the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960, Electoral Registration Officers have statutory responsibility for adding, correcting and deleting names from electoral rolls. The dispute is over whether changes to the software have limited the ability of EROs to independently carry out these functions.One example cited in the controversy is from Goa, where EROs reportedly approved the addition of 97 voters, but the names could not be added to the electoral roll because of issues with database access.During that period, the Goa CEO’s office wrote to the ECI eight times between February 11 and 17, addressing the communications to Senior Deputy Election Commissioner Gyanesh Bharti and copying Khanna, seeking a rollback facility. The report also mentions that Deputy Election Commissioner Sanjay Kumar later wrote to Khanna, asking her to ensure that the IT system did not come in the way of action required under the Supreme Court’s directions.The development in Goa came even after Deputy Election Commissioner Sanjay Kumar first wrote to Khanna on November 4, 2025, and again on January 2, asking the IT system to ensure that it did not restrict the statutory powers and functioning of EROs, according to The Indian Express report.INTERNAL DISSENT OVER VOTER SOFTWARE The issue has also exposed differences within the Election Commission. Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi wrote to Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and Cabinet Secretary TV Somanathan, raising concerns over the centralised control of the electoral-roll database and the access and powers available to field-level electoral officials.They have alleged that the DG (IT) does not have the legal authority to control or restrict the powers and access of EROs, who are statutory authorities. They had called for the restoration of full digital access to field officials.The controversy has since become a political issue, with opposition parties including the Congress, AAP, Samajwadi Party and TMC targeting Khanna and Gyanesh Kumar.Opposition leaders have alleged that backend control of the electoral software, including the use of AI, could have been used to influence or delete voter names from electoral rolls. These are political allegations and have not been established as facts.- Ends