Why is the Bihar electoral roll being revised?

Election Commission of India (EC) Initiates Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of Electoral Rolls in Bihar

• EC oversees the preparation of electoral rolls for elections to Parliament and State legislature.

• Rapid urbanization and migration have led to large scale additions and deletions to the electoral rolls, increasing the possibility of duplicate entries.

• The EC has initiated a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls in Bihar before the general elections for its Legislative Assembly.

• The SIR requires every elector to submit an enumeration form to their Booth Level Officers (BLOs).

• The last SIR was carried out in 2003, and guidelines for an SIR of the Bihar electoral roll have been laid down.

• Critics argue that the SIR is a massive task involving submission of forms by all eight crore voters, and that migrant labourers and students may not be able to submit their forms within the deadline.

• The Aadhaar card is not a proof of date of birth or citizenship, and the list of valid documents includes caste certificates, family registers, and land allotment certificates.

• The SIR states that only citizens who are ‘ordinarily resident’ should be included in the electoral roll of a constituency.

• The EC intends to provide a remote voting facility for such migrant workers.