The Election Commission of India (ECI) has had an impeccable record of setting up election booths – sometimes even for a single voter – in line with its mottos ‘no voter to be left behind’ and ‘every vote counts’.
But in the past few weeks, large-scale deletion of voters from Bihar’s draft electoral roll and allegations of voter fraud by leader of the opposition Rahul Gandhi have put the election commission under scrutiny.
On 24 June, the ECI announced the start of the special intensive revision (SIR) of Bihar’s electoral rolls ahead of elections there. The process included verifying about 80 million voters in the state.
By 1 August, the first phase of the exercise was completed and data was released to the public. Much to the shock of the nation, more than 6.5 million voters had been removed from the electoral rolls, or about 8.3% of total voters before the rushed exercise.
Updating and maintaining voter lists across the country is crucial for a fair and robust electoral process, and is conducted regularly in India. However, in a country with nearly a billion voters, these exercises require enormous effort and involve some amount of error.
However, the launch of SIR in Bihar—which is to be extended to the entire country—has raised eyebrows, particularly because of its rushed timelines, stringent documentation requirements, and the sheer quantity of deletions.
A break from tradition
The ECI regularly updates voter lists through a standard periodic process called the special summary revision (SSR). However, this year it launched SIR in Bihar—for the first time since it was first conducted in the state in 2003—to revise voter lists against the backdrop of rapid urbanisation, frequent migration, and non-reporting of deaths, among other issues.
A Mint analysis of the district-wise deletion of voters shows that some of these areas saw close contests in the Lok Sabha polls. Among the 10 Lok Sabha constituencies in Bihar that saw the thinnest margins of victory, ranging from 13,661 to 59,808, eight saw more than 100,000 voters deleted.
SIR was controversial from the start as political parties and civil society members asked why it was being conducted just a few months before the assembly elections in Bihar, expressing worries about potential disenfranchisement.
The ECI aims to complete the exercise and have a final roll by 30 September after allowing citizens to file objections between 1 August and 1 September. The commission, for its part, has said no names will be deleted without notice but has refused to share individual names or reasons for deletions.
Close calls
Since last week Rahul Gandhi has made a string of allegations against the ECI, accusing it of five types of ‘vote chori’ (theft of votes)—duplicate voters, fake addresses, several voters at a single address, invalid photos, and misuse of Form 6 for registration of new voters, including change of address and re-enrolment.
The Congress leader claimed that over 100,000 votes were created out of thin air in Mahadevapura assembly segment of Bangalore Central parliamentary constituency.
While the ECI rejected the allegations, there is some evidence of voter duplication and dubious voter entries in electoral rolls that needs to be addressed, especially since Indian elections are often close battles.
A Mint analysis of past six Lok Sabha elections shows about a fifth of seats at least were won with margins of less than 50,000 votes. In 2024, as many as 17 seats were decided by fewer than 5,000 votes.
As such razor-thin victories often prove crucial in shaping India’s political landscape, it’s vital for the world’s largest democracy to address these issues robustly and transparently.
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