SIR Online: Everything Is Difficult by Design
I did SIR enumeration online. The application seems to have been written by someone who hates users and doesn’t want them to get the work done1.
I have had the same EPIC number since 2002, and it is still valid. I have kept my information updated over the years. Yet, I had to search for myself in a 2002 electoral roll, and I couldn’t find my name. I don’t exactly remember what happened in 2002 or why my name isn’t there. Or may be it was added after 2002 SIR2. Ideally system should know it and guide accordingly.
Then I had to search for one of my parents and link their details. Thanks to my father’s good memory we were able to find the part no. Because the search dropdowns doesn’t always show the polling station address. One has to know it!
Of course, Aadhaar is not compulsory3; it’s just that you can’t submit the form online without e-signing it using Aadhaar + OTP. I have a valid digital signature certificate that I use for e-signing. Why can’t I use that? No one knows.
What happens after the submission, no one knows. There is acknowledgement shown on the screen after the signing, but I dont know what happens after that. You do get a SMS message of the acknowledgement. But that message also doesn’t show any acknowledgement or any details on how to check on it.
For someone with a tech background, it took considerable amount time and effort to submit the form. Imagine folks who are less comfortable with technology or those who have changed locations and doesn’t remember well. Imagine those who fall for things like “digital arrest” scams trying to navigate this.
What a mess this #SIR is. The #ECI website is probably one of the most user-unfriendly applications I have seen online recently. I thought IRCTC was bad.
Some coverage
- Citizen Matter’s has an How – To
- The Hindu – SIR: Voters, BLOs unsure what follows after filling online form
- TOI – SIR’s digital wall: 1 lakh try in Karnataka, only 0.2% get through
- The Hindu – SIR progeny mapping in Karnataka: Different BLOs, different instructions
- The Hindu – SIR: Missing 2002 ‘supplementary rolls’ leave voters unable to verify electoral records
Footnotes
- Your mobile number has to associated with your current EPIC or you can’t. To do that you need to submit Form 8 ↩
- Learnt later, as per the The Hindu, 2002 supplementary rolls are not included, so may be that is the reason? ↩
- Also remember the names have to match exactly between your current EPIC and Aadhaar. If they don’t match then submit the enumeration form offline. ↩
