Ahead of Bihar polls, EC plans house-to-house survey for electoral roll
The regular exercise of revision of electoral rolls is undertaken annually throughout the country by the EC and also before the holding of elections or bypolls.
The Election Commission of India is planning to conduct an “intensive house-to-house verification” of the voters’ list in Bihar ahead of the assembly polls due in the state later this year, officials said on Sunday.
Concerns have been raised by various civil society organisations, political parties and others persistently over the inclusion or deletion of names in the electoral rolls, the officials said.
“To ensure the system is completely robust and error-free, the ECI is considering an intensive house-to-house verification during the upcoming electoral roll revision before the Bihar Assembly polls,” an EC official familiar with the matter said requesting anonymity.
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Such an intensive and rigorous revision of the electoral rolls has been done in the past as well with the last such exercise undertaken in 2004, the official said.
The regular exercise of revision of electoral rolls is undertaken annually throughout the country by the EC and also before the holding of elections or bypolls.
The provisions regarding eligibility to be registered as a voter and disqualification are clearly laid down in Article 326 of the Constitution and Section 16 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950 respectively, they said.
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The voter list is revised regularly due to deaths and inclusion of new voters. Inter-state and intra-state movement of voters is another key reason why rolls need updation. For instance, during 2024, according to the forms received by the EC, 4.6 million people shifted their residence, 23 million applied for corrections and 3.3 million requested for replacement, the commission said in a statement issued on Sunday.
Thus, in a single year, nearly 31 million changes were required to be made across the country, the commission said in the statement.
Officials lamented that despite following a detailed protocol, insinuations and allegations are often made against the EC of arbitrarily inflating the electoral roll, even though the exercise is conducted with complete transparency and under constant scrutiny of political parties.
Several parties, including the Congress, have accused the poll authority of manipulating voter data.
