The Election Commission of India (ECI) has launched a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar, ahead of the State Assembly elections in November 2025. This is part of a nationwide effort to cleanse voter lists of duplicates and ineligible names while ensuring inclusion of all eligible citizens. The exercise has generated debates around citizenship proof, Aadhaar exclusion, migrant voting rights, and administrative feasibility.
What is an Electoral Roll?
Constitutional
basis:
●
Article 324:
Vests superintendence, direction, and control of electoral rolls with the ECI.
●
Article 326:
Guarantees universal adult suffrage for citizens aged 18+.
●
Statutory
backing under RP Act, 1950:
○
Section 19:
Person must be 18+ and “ordinarily resident” in a constituency.
○
Section 20:
“Ordinarily resident” excludes mere property ownership, but temporary absence
does not affect residency.
○
Section 16:
Non-citizens, persons of unsound mind, and those convicted of certain offences
are disqualified.
●
Significance:
The electoral roll is the bedrock of free and fair elections, as only
registered voters can exercise franchise.
Why has SIR been Initiated?
●
Legal mandate:
Section 21, RP Act, 1950 empowers ECI to order special revisions at any time
for recorded reasons.
●
Urbanisation
& Migration: Rapid mobility has led to duplicate entries, ghost voters,
and wrongful deletions, eroding voter roll integrity.
●
Citizenship
verification: Rising illegal migration concerns require ECI to ensure that
only bona fide citizens are enrolled.
●
Bihar as the
pilot case:
○
Assembly elections due in Nov 2025.
○
The last SIR was in 2003.
●
Process shift:
○
2003:
House-to-house verification by enumerators.
○
2025: Every
elector must now self-submit enumeration forms with documentary proof to BLOs,
increasing accountability.
Pros of the SIR Exercise
●
Purification of
rolls: Removes bogus, deceased, and duplicate entries, enhancing electoral
credibility.
●
Strong
administrative machinery: Over 1 lakh BLOs, 4 lakh volunteers, and 1.5 lakh
Booth Level Agents (BLAs) involved, ensuring wide coverage.
●
Technology
leverage: Use of digitised databases, smart apps, and real-time monitoring
may improve efficiency compared to manual verification in 2003.
●
Checks and
balances: Political party agents involved at the booth level act as
watchdogs against partisan manipulation.
Concerns and Challenges
●
Scale of
exercise: With 8 crore voters in Bihar and around 3 crore requiring fresh
documentation, the workload is unprecedented.
●
Risk of wrongful
exclusions: Genuine voters, especially poor and marginalised, may be struck
off due to lack of documentation.
●
Migrant voters and
students: Those temporarily away for work or study may miss deadlines,
losing their democratic voice.
●
Time
constraints: Compressing such a massive exercise into a few weeks may
compromise accuracy and inclusivity.
●
Field-level
errors: Despite heavy manpower, errors in verification, data entry, or
intentional bias by BLOs cannot be ruled out.
Functions of the Election Commission
of India (ECI)
Electoral Rolls
● Preparation & Revision: ECI prepares and updates electoral rolls under Article 324
and the Representation of the People Act, 1950.
● Purification:
Conducts periodic revision and Special Intensive Revision (SIR) to eliminate
duplicates, bogus, and ineligible voters.
● Inclusion:
Ensures enrolment of all eligible citizens, including NRIs (after 2010
amendment) and service voters (via postal ballots).
●
Challenge: Balancing purity of rolls with
inclusivity (esp. for migrants, homeless, and marginalised).
Conduct of Elections
● Range of elections: Responsible for free and fair elections to Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha, State
Assemblies, and to the offices of President and Vice-President (Articles
324–329).
● Election schedule: Decides polling dates, phases, and counting timelines.
● Logistics & Security: Deploys security forces, monitors law & order, and
ensures level-playing field.
●
Innovations: Introduction of one-day polling in
many states and multi-phase polling in sensitive regions.
Monitoring Political
Parties
● Registration & Recognition: Grants recognition to national, state, and regional parties
under the Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968.
● Symbols:
Allocates election symbols to parties/candidates to ensure voter clarity.
● Model Code of Conduct (MCC): Issues and enforces MCC during elections to maintain
neutrality and curb misuse of official machinery.
●
De-registration debate: While ECI can register parties,
currently it cannot de-register them (a demand for reform).
Expenditure Regulation
● Expenditure ceiling: Prescribes limits on candidate expenditure to curb money power.
● Monitoring:
Maintains shadow registers, mandates submission of expense statements, and
deploys expenditure observers.
● Transparency drive: Pushes for electoral bonds transparency and digital tracking of donations
(though limited by govt rules).
●
Challenge: Black money, freebies, and hidden
expenditures remain major concerns.
Voter Awareness and
Participation
● SVEEP Programme: Systematic Voter’s Education and Electoral Participation – promotes
awareness, enrolment, and turnout.
● Inclusivity: Efforts
to register women, youth, senior citizens, PwDs, tribals, and homeless voters.
● Tech outreach: Online
voter registration through NVSP and mobile apps like Voter Helpline.
●
Recent success: Record participation of women voters
in many state elections, narrowing gender gap.
Use of Technology
● Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs): Introduced to curb booth capturing and invalid votes.
● VVPATs (Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail): Added for transparency after Supreme
Court directives (2013, 2019).
● Remote Voting Research: Exploring Remote Voting Machines (RVMs) for migrant workers,
though not implemented yet.
●
Digitisation: Use of GIS mapping, apps, and AI for
booth management and monitoring MCC violations.
Quasi-Judicial Functions
● Party disputes:
Decides on internal party splits/mergers (e.g., Shiv Sena faction dispute in
2023).
● Disqualification powers:
○ Under Tenth Schedule: Refers cases of defection to Speaker/Chairman but advises in disputes.
○ Under Representation of People Act,
1951: Can recommend disqualification of MPs/MLAs for corrupt practices, failure
to lodge election expenses, etc.
●
Adjudicatory role: Functions like a tribunal in cases
of recognition of political parties and election symbols.
Policy and Reform
Advocacy
● Reform proposals: Repeatedly recommends electoral reforms – state funding of elections,
decriminalisation of politics, and curbing paid news.
● Law Commission links: Many reforms suggested by the Law Commission and ECI remain
pending (e.g., power to deregister parties, bar candidates with criminal
charges).
● Continuous evolution: Adapts to challenges like fake news, social media influence, and misuse
of freebies.
ECI– Key Facts
●
Constitutional
Basis: Article 324; conducts elections to Parliament, State Legislatures,
President & VP.
●
Composition: Chief
Election Commissioner (CEC) + 2 Election Commissioners (multi-member since
1989; strength decided by Parliament).
●
Appointment: By
President, on recommendation of a committee (PM, LoP in Lok Sabha, Union
Cabinet Minister) as per 2023 law.
●
Eligibility: No
specific qualifications; usually senior civil servants with integrity &
experience.
●
Tenure: 6
years or till 65 years of age, whichever earlier.
●
Salary: Same
as Supreme Court judges.
●
Removal:
○
CEC: Removed
only by Parliament through impeachment (like SC judges).
○
ECs: Removed
by President on recommendation of CEC.
●
Safeguards: Security
of tenure, protected service conditions, no reappointment or further office
post-retirement.
Role of the Election Commission in
Preparing the Special Intensive Revision (SIR)
Constitutional Mandate
●
Under Article 324, the ECI has the power of
superintendence, direction, and control over the preparation of electoral
rolls.
●
It ensures compliance with Article 326, which
guarantees the right to vote for every citizen above 18 years, subject to
disqualifications.
Statutory Backing
●
The Representation of the People Act, 1950 gives ECI
powers to prepare, revise, and update electoral rolls.
●
Section 21 explicitly empowers the ECI to conduct a
special revision of rolls at any time, if required.
Designing the SIR Process
●
Decides the qualifying date for eligibility (e.g., July
1, 2025 for Bihar SIR).
●
Frames
guidelines for enumeration: In 2025, unlike the 2003 SIR, every voter must
submit forms to Booth Level Officers (BLOs).
●
Specifies required documents (birth certificate, land
records, family registers, etc.), while excluding Aadhaar for citizenship
verification.
Administrative Execution
●
Deploys massive
ground-level machinery: 1 lakh BLOs, 4 lakh volunteers, and 1.5 lakh Booth
Level Agents (BLAs).
●
Ensures door-to-door verification, collection of forms,
and cross-checking with 2003 roll extracts.
●
Uses technology platforms to accelerate data entry,
verification, and duplication checks.
Ensuring Integrity &
Inclusivity
●
Inclusion: Safeguards
enrolment of eligible voters, including first-time voters and marginalised
groups.
●
Exclusion: Detects
and removes duplicate, fake, or ineligible entries.
●
Balances between purity of rolls (no bogus voters) and
inclusivity (no wrongful deletions, esp. migrants).
Monitoring &
Oversight
●
Involves political parties via Booth Level Agents to
ensure transparency.
●
Provides a claims and objections process, where voters
can appeal against wrongful deletion or non-inclusion.
●
Plans public awareness campaigns under SVEEP to ensure
voters know their responsibilities in the SIR process.
Policy Evolution
●
Excludes Aadhaar due to constitutional concerns, but
considers future use of Aadhaar seeding (with consent) to curb duplicates.
●
Examines feasibility of remote voting technology to
safeguard migrant workers’ rights.
●
Uses the Bihar SIR as a pilot model for nationwide roll
cleansing before 2029 Lok Sabha elections.
Aadhaar Exclusion Debate
●
ECI’s position:
○
Aadhaar is not proof of date of birth or citizenship.
○
Carries explicit disclaimer: “Not proof of
citizenship.”
○
Allowing it risks non-citizens entering the rolls.
●
Counter-arguments:
○
Aadhaar is the de facto universal ID for millions,
especially underprivileged citizens lacking other documents.
○
Form 6 under RER, 1960 already mandates Aadhaar for new
voter registration.
○
Excluding Aadhaar may disproportionately exclude
marginalised groups and erode inclusivity.
Migrant Workers and Voting Rights
●
Legal framework:
○
Only those “ordinarily resident” can be enrolled in a
constituency (RP Act, 1950).
○
Migrants must register at their current place of stay.
●
Ground reality:
○
Migrants maintain family, social, and economic ties
with native places and often return during elections.
○
Many prefer to vote in home constituencies, tied to
their cultural identity.
●
Policy debate:
○
Excluding migrants risks disenfranchising millions of
workers.
○
ECI had proposed Remote Voting Machines (RVMs) in 2023,
but political consensus was lacking.
○
Without reform, migrant voices remain underrepresented.
Way Forward
●
Balance
inclusivity with accuracy: Ensure eligible citizens are not wrongfully
excluded in the name of purification.
●
Document
flexibility: Consider Aadhaar as a supporting ID, with additional
safeguards against misuse.
●
Safeguard
migrant rights: Fast-track the remote voting mechanism or allow dual
registration safeguards with technology.
●
Technology-driven
duplication checks: Aadhaar seeding (with consent), data analytics, and
de-duplication software can help.
●
Phased
timelines: Avoid rushed implementation; stagger SIR across phases to
minimise errors.
●
Transparency
& accountability: Active role of political parties, civil society, and
judiciary oversight where needed.
Conclusion
The Special Intensive Revision in Bihar represents the ECI’s constitutional mandate to ensure free, fair, and credible elections, which form part of India’s basic structure doctrine. A purified roll strengthens electoral legitimacy, but wrongful exclusion of poor, migrant, and marginalised voters could weaken democratic participation. The challenge lies in striking a delicate balance between rigour and inclusivity, ensuring that India’s democracy remains both clean and representative.