'Can't allow dead, migrants, or duplicates on voter rolls', says CEC Kumar

On the face of criticism from Opposition over Bihar voter roll revision, Chief Election Commissioner said that the EC cannot allow names of the deceased and migrants to remain on the voters list

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Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar on Thursday defended the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar, hitting back at opposition political parties who allege the move could disenfranchise millions. Addressing concerns about the inclusion of ineligible voters, Kumar questioned whether the Election Commission could be accused of bias for removing names of the dead, migrants, or those registered in multiple locations. 

“Isn’t a pure voter list being prepared by the Election Commission through a transparent process, the foundation for fair elections and a strong democracy?” Kumar asked. 

He added that allowing ineligible names to remain on the rolls, first in Bihar, then nationwide, would go against the Constitution. “On these questions, someday or the other, all of us and all the citizens of India will have to think deeply, going beyond political ideologies,” he said.   

 

Over 5.2 mn missing or dead, says EC

The Commission revealed that during house-to-house visits under the SIR, officials found more than 5.2 million voters absent from their registered addresses and another 1.8 million already deceased. In total, over 100,000 voters were found untraceable, while 1.5 million did not submit enumeration forms, the EC said, citing the ongoing verification process. 

In all, the EC received and digitised forms from over 71.7 million individuals, but flagged irregularities like duplicate, invalid, or missing entries in the list.

 

EC tells SC it has right to check citizenship

Amid legal challenges to the SIR, the Election Commission informed the Supreme Court on Tuesday that it is within its rights to verify citizenship during the voter roll revision exercise. 

Responding to petitions that questioned the EC's authority to demand proof of citizenship, the Commission filed a counter-affidavit citing Article 326 of the Constitution, and Sections 16 and 19 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950. These legal provisions, the affidavit argued, empower the EC to ensure that only Indian citizens are enrolled as voters. 

“ECI is vested with the power to scrutinise whether a proposed elector fulfils the criteria for being registered as a voter in the electoral roll, which includes, inter alia, an assessment of citizenship,” said Deputy Election Commissioner Sanjay Kumar.

 

Political parties part of the process, says EC

On Tuesday, the EC said that all major political parties were involved in the voter roll revision process in Bihar. Over 150,000 booth-level agents were deployed by these parties to support the exercise. 

In an affidavit submitted in court, the EC defended the pan-India SIR initiative starting with Bihar. The Commission said it had full constitutional and legal authority to take such steps to maintain the purity of elections and the accuracy of electoral rolls.  (With agency inputs)