Election Commission Finds 5.76 Lakh Bihar Voters Registered in Multiple Locations

Speedy Summary:

• The Election Commission (EC) has identified over 5.76 lakh electors in Bihar registered at multiple locations and around 12.55 lakh deceased electors during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the state’s electoral rolls.
• Of the nearly 7.90 crore electors in Bihar, data reveals that over 35.69 lakh were not found at their addresses during house-to-house visits conducted by booth-level officers.
• Approximately 17.37 lakh electors are suspected to have permanently shifted residences.
• Names of over 6.60 crore or more then 83% of Bihar’s total eligible voters will be published in the draft electoral roll set for release on August 1, following submission deadlines for enumeration forms (EFs).
• Efforts include newspaper advertisements and individual outreach to temporarily migrated voters to ensure their inclusion in the draft list.

Indian Opinion Analysis:

The findings from the ongoing voter roll revision underline significant concerns regarding accuracy and maintenance of electoral integrity in Bihar’s voter registry. Identifying deceased and duplicate entries is a crucial step toward improving credibility, but wiht millions unaccounted for or possibly having relocated, challenges remain considerable.

Efforts to include migrated voters highlight an attempt by authorities to create a comprehensive draft roll; however, ensuring adequate participation from this demographic is uncertain due to logistical constraints like accessibility and timelines. The focus on newspaper outreach shows a reliance on traditional mediums which may not fully engage younger or digitally inclined populations.Streamlining these revisions presents potential gains for India’s democratic process by cleaning outdated data-but also reflects systemic issues such as inefficient record management and mobility-related disruptions typical across states facing high migration rates like Bihar.Read More: The Hindu Article