The second phase of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the Bihar electoral roll will begin on August 1 once the Election Commission of India (ECI) publishes the draft document. The number of enumeration forms received for SIR suggests a fall of 6.5 million from the number of registered voters in Bihar as on June 24, the day before ECI launched the exercise, and also lower than the number of registered voters before the 2024 general election and even the 2020 assembly election. This number may fall further as the forms are scrutinised and the incomplete ones rejected. Except during the electoral roll revision in 2005, Bihar has never seen a decline in the voting population: The decline is intriguing considering the state’s high fertility rate. ECI has attributed the decline to the deletion of the names of deceased persons, those with duplicate registration and migration, but this doesn’t ring true. The poll body has promised that due process will be followed in the case of deletions from the roll; it must follow through for the sake of the credibility of SIR.

The SIR controversy is playing out across three planes — political, legal and institutional. It has roiled the political atmosphere with the Opposition accusing the poll body of weaponising the electoral roll; the Rashtriya Janata Dal has threatened a poll boycott if its concerns are not addressed. Civil society bodies and politicians have challenged SIR in the Supreme Court, especially its choice of 11 documents to prove eligibility for inclusion in the roll and the refusal to include the Aadhaar card, existing voter identification card, and ration card among them. The challenge also involves the constitutional question of whether ECI’s mandate extends to insisting that a prospective voter prove his/her citizenship. And ECI, which has a stellar record in conducting elections, has come under scrutiny for potential overreach, and the Opposition has raised questions about its conduct.

In this backdrop, ECI’s actions in the coming days will be keenly watched. The right to vote is a cherished right, especially for the poor and oppressed who consider it as the only weapon to demand accountability from the rulers; denial of this right, even if on technical grounds, is likely to be viewed with grief and anger. ECI must tread carefully and stay true to its mandate, which is conducting free and fair elections.