So is the ECI saying half the electorate do need to ‘show documents’ to vote?
With the Supreme Court says ‘no citizen left behind’, the Election Commission says ‘more than half’ of electors don’t need to show documents — but what of the rest?
Election Commission officials stated on 17 September, Wednesday, that more than half of voters in most states will not need to supply additional documents during the upcoming special intensive revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls. This is because these individuals are already listed in the rolls from their state’s previous SIR, which, for most states, took place between 2002 and 2004 — a period now set as the cutoff for document-free inclusion in the next revision.
The Election Commission is now preparing to launch a pan-India SIR and, as per guidelines issued to chief electoral officers, the rolls published after the last SIR should be made ready for reference. Some states, such as Delhi and Uttarakhand, have made their previous SIR voter lists publicly available online. For example, Delhi’s 2008 electoral roll is accessible on the CEO’s website, while Uttarakhand’s 2006 roll is also published for public viewing.
Officials clarified that the cutoff date for each state’s SIR will mirror Bihar’s approach, where the 2003 voter list serves as the benchmark. In Bihar, instructions specify that “the 4.96 crore voters — 60 per cent of the total electors — who were listed in the 2003 special intensive revision need not submit any supporting document to establish their date or place of birth, except the relevant portion of the electoral roll brought out after the revision”, as per Election Commission guidelines.
However, around 40 per cent of electors (nearly 3 crore people) registered after 2003 will have to present one of 12 approved documents to verify their birth details.
The process also includes a new ‘declaration form’ for those applying to be electors or transferring registration from other states. Applicants must attest to being born in India before 1 July 1987 and submit supporting documentation, or, if born between 1 July 1987 and 2 December 2004, provide details about their parents’ birth records.
Opposition parties have raised concerns about the Bihar SIR, claiming that “crores of eligible citizens will be denied voting rights for want of documents”, and have questioned the timing of the revision process. The Supreme Court intervened, directing the Election Commission to ensure that “no eligible citizen is left behind” and that all voters have adequate opportunity to be included in the rolls.
This nationwide revision comes in the context of rapid urbanisation, frequent migration and persistent demands for an error-free and fraud-resistant electoral register prior to the upcoming state and national elections.
The bottomline is if the ECI claims “more than half” the electors don't need to show extra documents at this point to be enrolled in the voter list, does that now mean ‘almost half’ actually do? What does that imply for the prior work of verifications done by the SIR so far?