An error checking and correcting (ECC) decoder is provided to perform a BCH decoding to decode codeword into decoded data. The ECC decoder includes a syndrome generator circuit, an error locator polynomial circuit, and a decoding circuit. The syndrome generator circuit generates a plurality of syndromes corresponding to the codeword. The error locator polynomial circuit performs an arithmetic operation by using the syndromes to generate a plurality of coefficients in an error locator polynomial. The arithmetic operation includes a plurality of operators, wherein at least one of the operators is a lookup table circuit. The decoding circuit obtains at least one solution to the error locator polynomial with the coefficients and corrects the codeword according to the solution to the error locator polynomial to generate the decoded data.