Patna: A special voter list revision exercise in Bihar has uncovered a staggering 3.5 million missing voters, sparking questions about the accuracy of the state’s electoral rolls and raising broader concerns ahead of a nationwide revision drive planned by the Election Commission of India (ECI).
The findings emerged during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) campaign, which revealed that millions of voters are either untraceable or have permanently migrated from their registered addresses. The development has intensified scrutiny of the voter list’s integrity, especially as the ECI prepares to undertake a countrywide update of the electoral rolls.
Political parties have long criticised discrepancies in voter lists, particularly during recent assembly elections, accusing the authorities of both omitting eligible voters and including ineligible ones.
Election analysts have echoed these concerns, suggesting that the revision process may not be adequately filtering out false entries. The presence of undocumented migrants has further complicated the issue. Government data from 2017 estimated that around 20.4 million Bangladeshi and Rohingya nationals are living illegally in India, potentially impacting the legitimacy of voter records.
As of 1 January 2024, India had 968.8 million registered voters, underlining the scale and significance of the upcoming national revision. In its June 24 directive, the Election Commission stated that the Special Intensive Revision Drive was necessary to fulfil its constitutional duty of maintaining the sanctity of the electoral rolls.
