Only Indians should be part of voters' list: CEC on electoral rolls

Stressing the need for "purification of electoral rolls" from time to time, Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar on Sunday said only Indian citizens should be in the voters' list.

Addressing the Booth Level Officers (BLOs) of Telangana here, he said India is the world's largest democracy.

The BLOs formed the backbone of India's electoral system and the success of electoral roll purification depended on their diligence and integrity.

He noted that the global community closely watched India's elections to understand how the world's largest democracy functioned.

He said during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, the BLOs of Bihar had shown the way to the country. Under the phase-III of SIR, Telangana would demonstrate to the entire country how the exercise should be conducted.

On the SIR undertaken by the Election Commission in Bihar, he said the exercise had been carried out flawlessly.

The list of deleted electors in Bihar included 22 lakh who had passed away, 36 lakh who had (permanently) shifted,  and seven lakh fake voters.

There were 7.5 crore electors in the final list, he said, adding the process recorded zero complaints, zero re-polling and zero recounting, and congratulated Bihar's BLOs for doing a good job.

"From time to time, electoral rolls have to be purified. SIR will also be undertaken in Telangana. Prepare such an electoral roll which has names of only those who are elgibile. This is your work and it is very important for democracy. Purified electoral rolls are essential for a healthy democracy," Kumar said.

The voter list purification exercise was completed in Bihar and the drive is going on in 12 states, he said.

"Only Indian citizens should be part of the voters' list. Should an outsider be in the voter list? Be it of any religion...they should be Indian," he said.

He further said elections in India were conducted strictly in accordance with the law of the land and that all stakeholders were bound to comply with election laws.

Kumar, who recently assumed the chairship of the Council of Member States of the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA) for the year 2026 at Stockholm, said it reflected global recognition of the Election Commission of India as one of the world's most credible and innovative election management bodies.

The country has over 900 million electors, he said.

During his interaction with BLOs, the CEC observed that urban voter apathy remained a key reason for lower polling percentages in cities, while rural voters had consistently shown the way by turning out enthusiastically and standing in long queues.

Telangana Chief Electoral Officer C Sudharshan Reddy also spoke.