Electoral Rolls and Migrant Disenfranchisement in Bihar

As the ECI nears the completion of the first phase of its Special Intensive Revision in Bihar concerns have emerged over large-scale voter deletions impacting migrants and vulnerable groups.

Legal and Institutional Mismatch

• Outdated Legal Framework: The Representation of the People Act, 1950, was enacted for a sedentary, post-colonial India and does not reflect current migration dynamics, particularly in states like Bihar.
• Mismatch Between Law and Mobility: Despite nearly 450 million internal migrants in India, voter registration is still determined by rigid notions of residency rather than citizenship, structurally excluding transient workers.
• Administrative Minimalism by ECI: The Election Commission of India has adhered to procedural formalism rather than adopting an inclusive, proactive approach in accommodating migrant voters within the existing legal limits.

Ground-Level Disenfranchisement in Bihar

• Massive Voter Deletions: In 2025 alone, over 1.2 million names were removed from electoral rolls in Bihar, mostly in high-migration districts, disproportionately impacting the working-class poor and mobile citizens.
• Residency vs. Citizenship Confusion: Legal conflation of citizenship with residency leads to disenfranchisement of migrants, who are citizens but lack fixed addresses, making them politically invisible.
• Lack of Voter Awareness: Despite the public display of draft rolls, over 60% of Bihari voters are unaware of the claims/objections process, and this awareness is below 25% among migrant workers.

Comparative Perspective and the Way Forward

• Global Best Practices Exist: Countries like the USA, Philippines, and Australia employ absentee ballots, mobile voting units, and remote polling stations to ensure inclusion without compromising roll integrity.
• Institutional and Political Inertia: While the ECI cannot unilaterally amend laws, it must advocate for reform and innovate within its existing mandate; political parties must stop using disenfranchisement as a mobilisation tool.
• Call for Electoral Justice: Procedural integrity must not be achieved at the cost of substantive inclusion; clean electoral rolls must not translate into systematic voter exclusion, especially of economically vulnerable migrants.

Practice Question:

"The rigidity of India’s electoral laws fails to accommodate the realities of a mobile citizenry. Critically examine the impact of residency-based voter eligibility criteria on internal migrants, and suggest institutional and legislative measures to ensure universal suffrage."  (250 words)