The fault lines in India’s electoral architecture are visible, Pg 8.

Key Highlights:

• Over 1.2 million names deleted in Bihar due to “non-residency” during voter verification.
• Internal migrants form 37% of India’s population; Bihar has the highest rate of out-migration.
• Critics allege the ECI’s methodology disproportionately excludes migrants, poor, and minorities.
• Existing law uses residency, not citizenship, as basis for inclusion in voter rolls.
• Districts like Gopalganj and Sitamarhi saw deletions of 5–7% due to high out-migration.
• ECI’s procedural approach criticized as administratively rigid and exclusionary.
• International models offer solutions like absentee voting, mobile polling, and outreach innovations.

Detailed Insights:

• Structural Flaw in Election Laws:
  • The Representation of the People Act, 1950, assumes a sedentary electorate, making it outdated for India’s mobile population.
    • Ordinary residence, the legal criterion for enrolment, excludes those who circulate between multiple homes or workplaces.
• Disenfranchisement of Migrants:
  • Migrants exist in a liminal space, often lacking documents, awareness, or time to claim their voting rights.
    • For them, exclusion is not just procedural but existential, signalling their invisibility in democratic processes.
• Gap Between Law and Ground Realities:
  • Despite evidence of mass migration, the ECI prioritizes roll integrity over inclusive democracy.
    • Over 60% of voters in Bihar were unaware of the claims and objections window; awareness among migrants fell below 25%.
• International Examples:
  • The U.S. uses absentee and mail-in ballots;
  • The Philippines enables overseas absentee voting;
  • Australia deploys mobile polling stations in remote areas.
  • These models show that electoral integrity and inclusion are not mutually exclusive.
• Need for Reform and Innovation:
  • ECI should pilot alternative enrolment, leverage digital technology, and push for legislative changes.
  • Political parties should assist voters instead of weaponizing disenfranchisement for electoral gain.

Concepts Involved:

• Ordinary Residence: As per the Representation of the People Act, 1950, this refers to a person’s regular place of stay, which determines their voting constituency.
• Liminality: A sociological concept denoting a transitional or in-between state—applicable here to migrants who straddle rural homes and urban workplaces.
• Special Revision of Electoral Rolls: An exercise undertaken by ECI to verify, update, and delete ineligible entries from the electoral database.