New Delhi: The Election Commission of India (ECI) has denied allegations that Muslims were disproportionately excluded from Bihar’s updated voter list, calling the claims “communal” and “misleading.” In an affidavit before the Supreme Court, the ECI defended the accuracy of its Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise, asserting that the process was transparent and based on verified data.
The Commission said that the voter database does not record the religion of electors, making religion-based exclusion claims unfounded. It noted that petitioners, including the Association for Democratic Rights and activist Yogendra Yadav, had relied on “software-based name recognition” to suggest that 25 percent of those excluded were Muslims. The ECI said such claims lacked authenticity or scientific basis.
Defending the SIR process, the ECI said it was conducted for the first time in over two decades to correct discrepancies, as previous voter lists contained more names than the state’s projected population. Over 90,000 Booth Level Officers conducted house-to-house verification, and all data was made publicly accessible online.
The Commission also said that political parties and civil groups had limited participation in ensuring the roll’s inclusivity, adding that the number of objections received was minimal. It rejected the claim of large-scale disenfranchisement, explaining that non-inclusion of around 65 lakh voters resulted from deaths, migration, or duplicate registrations.
The Supreme Court recorded the ECI’s assurance that the list of additions and deletions would be published soon and stated that the Commission was bound to complete the process.
