Special Intensive Voter Roll Revision in Bihar: 5 ECI Claims Under the Scanner

ECI's voter roll revision in Bihar sparks claims of disenfranchisement.

(Aroop Mishra/The Quint)

The Election Commission of India (ECI), on 24 June, announced that it would carry out a 'Special Intensive Revision' of voter rolls in Bihar ahead of the upcoming state Assembly elections. The exercise, the poll body claimed, will help ensure that "no ineligible voter is included in the electoral rolls and will introduce complete transparency in the process of addition or deletion of electors."

The move, however, has drawn sharp criticism from opposition parties including the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Congress, and AIMIM, who contend that it will result in the "disenfranchisement" of genuine voters.

The Quint analysed the ECI's arguments in favour of the move. This article will delve into why many of these claims by the poll body do not add up.

First, What Is a 'Special Intensive Revision'?

Among the many core responsibilities of the Election Commission of India is the creation, maintenance, and purification of the electoral roll. It does so under the framework of Article 324 of the Constitution of India, provisions of the Representation of the People Act, 1950, and the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960.

As per the Commission's own note explaining the revision process, it conducts house to house surveys, physical field verifications, publicly displays list of claims and objections, supervises and conducts random checking, shares draft and final electoral roll with political parties, and follows a rigorous SoP for deletion of names.

This process is called Summary Revision or Special Summary Revision of voter rolls. Other types of revisions include Intensive Revision, and partly intensive and partly summary revision.

There is, however, no mention of a process called 'Special Intensive Revision'.

In its note dated 24 June, the EC mentioned that as per Section 23 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950, the eligibility conditions to enrol as an elector were already being verified. However, to ensure complete transparency, "it would be necessary that the documents on the basis of which such satisfaction of the Electoral Registration Officer is arrived at, are also uploaded in ECINET as the current level of technology enables so."

How will the exercise be carried out?

As per the ECI's timeline, Booth Level Officers (BLOs) will visit every voter in Bihar with an enumeration form, collect signatures, and gather supporting documents by 26 July 2025.

While voters can also download and submit the form online via the ECI website, each BLO is expected to visit every household three times.

Failure to submit these documents will result in automatic removal of name from voter list.

Challenges to these deletions can only be made between 1 August and 1 September.

The final roll will be published on 30 September.

What documents is the EC asking for?

According to EC press notes:

• Those born before 1 July 1987 must provide proof of birth.

• Those born between 1 July 1987 and 2 December 2004 must submit documentation for themselves and at least one parent.

• Those born after 2 December 2004 must provide proof of birth for themselves and both parents.

Accepted documents include: birth certificates, passports, educational certificates, permanent residence, forest rights, and caste certificates; the family register prepared by state and local authorities; land or house allotment certificates issued by the government; documents issued to government employees or pensioners; and other documents issued by public authorities before 1967.

Aadhaar and ration card are not included.

Is There a Precedent to This Exercise, as the EC Claims?

The Election Commission, in its press note, claimed that the previous 'intensive revision' in Bihar was conducted in 2003 — attempting to set it up as a precedent for this exercise.

FAQs published on the ECI website detail the process of intensive revision.

It says:"The actual revision starts with the publication of the draft electoral roll. With this, the ERO invites claims and objections from all eligible citizens and, after processing such applications with due procedure, inclusions/deletions/corrections are carried out. Discrepancies already identified by BLOs during the pre-revision activities are also taken up for removal. All changes are updated in the electoral roll database, and the final roll is published as per the approved schedule."

So, how is a Special Intensive Revision different?

The Special Intensive Revision differs from previous exercises in that, for the first time, the onus is on individual voters to prove eligibility — reversing the earlier principle that the State and the EC ensure voter registration.

The EC claims that those on the 2003 electoral roll will only need to verify their details without providing documents. However, if someone on the 2003 list fails to do so, they could be at risk of being disenfranchised.

Number of People This Move Will Impact

As per ECI's figures, 7,72,59,579 people voted in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections in Bihar. The poll body claimed that out of these 4.96 crore electors, whose names are on the 2003 list, will not have to submit any documents. The EC's estimates thus states that only 2.77 crore electors will be impacted by the move.

But is this estimate accurate?

In a report for The Hindu, Dr Rahul Shastri, a researcher associated with the Bharat Jodo Abhiyan, pointed out the estimate is an "oversight".

"The electoral roll of 2003 for Bihar did have around 4.96 crore individuals. By our calculations from the reports of the Sample Registration System, around 1.1 crore of them are dead. The ECI has taken them off the rolls," Dr Shastri's report mentioned.

He further cited a paper by Pinak Sarkar, Professor at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, to claim that a sizeable number (at least 94 Lakh) of people on the 2003 list have permanently migrated out of the state.

Hence, of the 4.96 crore electors in the 2003 list, if we remove those who are dead and those who have migrated from Bihar permanently, around 3.16 crore electors remain in the present count of Bihar’s electorate.

These 3.16 crore people who were also on the 2003 list do not need to submit any eligibility documents. The rest of the 4.57 crore individuals (7.73 crore-3.16 crore) need to submit their documents.

How Many People Have the Documents the EC Wants?

The list of documents that EC has mentioned can be used as proof of identification does not include two crucial and widely available IDs — Aadhaar and ration card.

Dr Shastri, in his analysis, reviewed the documents EC's accepting as proof.

The first accepted document is a government-issued identity or pension card. According to the 2022 caste census, about 20.47 lakh people in Bihar hold government jobs. Less than half of them fall within the 18–40 age bracket, which means this ID applies to under 2 percent of that age group.

The second option—a pre-July 1, 1987 ID—is irrelevant for the current 18–40 age group.

The third document, a birth certificate, is held by only 2.8 percent of Biharis born between 2001 and 2005 (NFHS-3). Since most in the target group were born before 2001, the actual figure is even lower.

The fourth, a passport, is held by around 2.4 percent of Bihar’s population. While the 20–40 age group might have a slightly higher rate, it's unlikely to cross 10 percent.

Fifth, the matriculation certificate is the most widely held. Based on NFHS-2 and NFHS-5 data, around 45–50 percent of those aged 18–40 are matriculates. There's a 10-percentage point gender gap—with women at a disadvantage.

Sixth is the domicile certificate, which applies to almost everyone since in-migration to Bihar is minimal.

Seventh, forest rights certificates are largely irrelevant, as STs make up only 1.3 percent of Bihar’s population, and very few live in forest areas.

Eighth, caste certificates (OBC/SC/ST) are held by about 16 percent of Biharis (IHDS-2, 2011–12). Around 20 percent of SCs, 18 percent of OBCs, and 38 percent of STs had such certificates at that time. Those aged 30–40 now could have secured them by 2012; even with some increase, fewer than 25 percent of households are likely to possess them.

Ninth, the NRC is only relevant in Assam.

Tenth, the family register is not applicable in Bihar.

The last is a land or house allotment certificate. There’s no data on land allotments. Government housing certificates are generally given to employees, not beneficiaries of schemes like PMAY-G.

Most non-matriculates are unlikely to have a passport, a government job, or a caste certificate. Under the Election Commission’s new rules, the matriculation certificate effectively becomes the default age proof for voters aged 18–40. This creates a system where educational qualification determines voting rights, sidelining those who left school due to poverty—roughly 2.4 to 2.6 crore people.

"If we also consider those over 40 whose names weren’t in the 2003 voter list, or whose names don’t match the current list, the number of disenfranchised individuals grows even larger. These are not illegal immigrants—but citizens who have been failed by the State’s inability to issue birth certificates, provide basic education, or deliver caste documentation. Penalising them now is unjust," Dr Shastri wrote.

The Timeline: Is It Possible to Carry Out This Mammoth Exercise in 3 Months?

RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, in his criticism of the 2025 Special Intensive Revision, claimed that the 2003 revision — which covered five crore electors — spanned across two years.

The EC, however, has set a three month window for the 2025 exercise, with approximately three crore more voters.

Further, according to Bihar's Chief Electoral Officer Vinod Singh Gunjiyal, the state has 77,895 Booth Level Officers (BLOs) for existing booths and about 14,000 for new booths that are being set up. This means a total of 91,895 BLOs have to register approximately 8 crore electors. Each BLO, hence, has to verify 838 electors.

EC's guidelines for Special Intensive Revision further mandates the BLO to visit each elector thrice. Which means in a window of two months, a BLO is expected to survey 2,513 entries, and then deal with disputes raised by electors.

Political Parties as 'Watchdogs'

The poll body, in its note announcing the revision, asked political parties to actively participate in the process by appointing Booth Level Agents (BLAs). "The active participation of BLAs would ensure that discrepancies, if any, are resolved at the preparation stage itself, thereby reducing the instances of filing claims, objections and appeals," the press release stated.

Is it, however, a level playing field?

Not quite. As per EC's data, there are 1,54,977 total BLAs in Bihar. Of these, nearly 52,698 have been appointed by the BJP alone. The RJD has 47,143 BLAs, while JDU has 27,931. The Congress party has only 16,500 BLAs working with them.