The Unmaking of a Voter: Inside the ECI's Controversial Electoral Roll Revision

The Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, initiated by the Election Commission of India (ECI), has become a subject of intense national debate. While the stated aim is to “purify” the rolls, the methodology and scale of deletions have raised fundamental questions about the right to vote and the risk of mass disenfranchisement.

What is the issue and what is its scale?

The core issue is the unprecedented number of voters being deleted from the electoral rolls through the SIR process. Across 30 States and Union Territories, 13.37 crore names were struck off during the draft stage of the revision. The deletion rate accelerated as the exercise progressed: it was 8.3% in Bihar (Phase 1), rose to 12.9% in the 12 states of Phase 2, and reached 17% in Phase 3. Certain regions saw even higher rates, such as Delhi at 32.8% and Telangana at 21.7%, according to reports in The Hindu. Even after accounting for additions, the net deletions from the first two phases alone stood at approximately 6.2 crore voters. The scale of these deletions has led to situations where, for instance, 24 of Delhi's 70 assembly constituencies now have fewer electors on the draft roll than the number of people who voted in the February 2025 Assembly election.

What is the Election Commission's position?

The Election Commission of India has officially termed the SIR an exercise to “purify” the electoral rolls. The objective is to create a more accurate list by removing duplicate entries, names of deceased voters, and those who have permanently shifted residence. The ECI's actions suggest a focus on eliminating erroneous entries to enhance the integrity of the electoral process. However, in a move that critics describe as an implicit admission of procedural flaws, the ECI later directed officials in Delhi to conduct a “special drive” to enrol anyone “whose name has got left out,” acknowledging that eligible voters may have been erroneously removed.