ECI ‘Mark VIP’ Feature in BLO App: What the Election Commission Says About Voter Tagging

The Election Commission of India (ECI) introduced a ‘Mark VIP’ feature in the application used by booth level officers (BLOs) during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, with the update appearing while the exercise was underway across 16 states and three Union territories, a Hindustan Times report claimed. The development has drawn attention because the feature was not present in the BLO App used during the 2025 SIR in West Bengal, while the Commission has now said that flagging certain “marked electors” is a longstanding electoral-roll procedure.

Officials at Delhi’s chief electoral officer’s (CEO’s) office said the BLO App was updated on July 30 with the new feature. “The CEO office cannot make any changes to the apps or the software. Orders come directly from the commission,” said an official in the CEO’s office who did not want to be named, the report stated. Apple’s App Store version history currently lists “Mark VIP elector related changes” under version 2.94, dated August 4, while earlier versions are dated July 30 and July 24. Opposition To Move Fresh Removal Motion Against CEC Gyanesh Kumar in Parliament Amid SIR Row.

What The Latest ECI Response Says

The Election Commission has since said that the underlying practice of flagging prominent or “marked” electors is not new and predates the SIR exercise.

EC sources told TOI Friday, September 26, the instruction to BLOs on "flagging of marked electors" was a standard instruction, which was part of all three special intensive revision orders approved by the commission. Gyanesh Kumar vs 2 ECs? Election Commission Says SIR Decisions Were Unanimous.

The instruction to field officers to "mark" prominent electors in their jurisdictional areas has figured in EC's instructions for all special summary revisions, well before SIR was conceived, they said. For instance, Para 20 of the SSR exercise ordered by EC on May 29, 2023, with Jan 1, 2024, as the qualifying date, directed the "flagging of marked electors, viz MP/MLA/MLC, holders of declared offices and personalities from fields of arts, culture, journalism, sports, members of judiciary and public services, etc". Para 21 said the electoral registration officers were to ensure that the names were in the proposed draft roll.

The ECI’s March 2023 Manual on Electoral Rolls contains a similar provision. It says appropriate flagging should be carried out in the electoral database to avoid wrongful deletions of specified electors, including MPs, MLAs and MLCs, holders of declared offices and personalities from fields including arts, culture, journalism and sports, as well as members of the judiciary and public services.

Why The BLO App Update Drew Attention

Officials at the Delhi CEO’s office said the new feature appeared during the SIR process. Records on Apple’s App Store showed an entry describing the change as “mark VIP elector related changes”. No corresponding record was available on the Android Play Store, according to the Hindustan Times report.

HT spoke to BLOs in Delhi, Haryana and West Bengal. BLOs in Delhi and Haryana confirmed that the module was live on their apps. BLOs from West Bengal said the feature was not available when the SIR began there in November 2025.

“The ‘Mark VIP’ feature wasn’t included in the BLO app in 2025 when SIR was held in West Bengal. It was introduced more than a month ago. It helps the BLO to mark the person as VIP during verification,” said a member of the BLO association in West Bengal, requesting anonymity.

The timing of the update has also brought it into focus amid controversy over prominent voters receiving logical discrepancy notices in Delhi. Those reported to have received such notices include Delhi chief minister Rekha Gupta, former chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, former deputy prime minister LK Advani, external affairs minister S Jaishankar and election commissioner SS Sandhu.

‘VIP’ Status And Electoral Rolls

The provision to identify certain electors as “marked electors” has existed in Election Commission rules and manuals for years. In Delhi, for example, an official said the list of VIP electors is about 3,000 strong.

Rules provide that such electors should be ensured a place in the draft electoral roll, but the designation does not make them immune from claims and objections or from receiving notices.

“The feature ‘Mark VIP’ is like a consolidation exercise. Once a BLO marks an elector as VIP with an asterisk after visiting the residence of a voter, it is vetted by the AERO and ERO and subsequently by the office of the chief electoral officer, Delhi,” said a senior official from the New Delhi district. The official added that there were around 1,000 VIP electors in the district.

The second official from the Delhi CEO office cited above said BLOs were always given lists of VIP voters or voters from different age groups. “This has been done to ensure that we can facilitate them during the time of elections,” this official said.

How The Marking Process Works

A BLO from Kalkaji said the update was introduced to identify VIP voters and ensure they do not face any trouble with forms. “Even though we visit everyone’s house, a VIP voter is a VIP voter. We had to identify such people in our area and make sure their forms were processed before those of others,” said the BLO.

The ECI’s March 2023 manual directs electoral registration officers to ensure that the names of marked electors are included in the proposed draft roll and that appropriate database flagging is carried out to prevent wrongful deletion.

“This means that the names of the VIP electors will be added to the electoral rolls irrespective of whether they have filled the enumeration forms. However, they will not be immune from being served notices. They will not have to visit hearing centres and they will be facilitated,” said the second official cited above.

ECI Says ‘VIP’ Is App Terminology

The latest clarification from the Election Commission draws a distinction between its formal terminology and the wording used in the app. The ECI says its instructions refer to “marked electors” rather than “VIP” electors. According to TOI, the same instruction was reiterated in the SIR order for Bihar dated June 24, 2025, as well as in the orders for SIR Phases 2 and 3.

Nowhere in the SIR or SSR instructions has the terminology 'VIP' been used. "It somehow made it to the app description," an officer said. EC officials said the BLO app software update was meant to help such prominent persons "marked" in the electoral database by flagging any notices served and enabling the proof furnished by them to be uploaded on the app without delay.

The ECI’s position therefore is that the database practice itself predates the current SIR, while the recent software update provided a specific digital facility for handling marked electors during the ongoing revision.

The ECI’s Manual on Electoral Rolls, published in March 2023, explicitly provides for the “Flagging of marked electors” and lists MPs, MLAs, MLCs, holders of declared offices and personalities from several fields among those covered. It says the purpose of database flagging is to avoid wrongful deletions in future revisions.

A separate ECI document containing the 2023 Special Summary Revision instructions also directs electoral registration officers to ensure that such electors are present in the proposed draft roll and appropriately flagged in the electoral database.

The current dispute, therefore, centres less on whether such electors can be identified in electoral databases, which the ECI says is an established procedure, and more on the timing, wording and implementation of the newly documented ‘Mark VIP’ facility in the BLO App during the ongoing SIR.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 26, 2026 08:59 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).