The Election Commission has announced the second phase of the verification exercise of voters, which it began in Bihar removing lakhs of voters ahead of the upcoming assembly elections, in 12 states and union territories from Monday midnight. Thus the rapid revision of voter lists will be carried out in Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala where assembly elections are due, subjecting 51 crore voters to the process. However, BJP-ruled Assam is not in the list. The reason cited is that the citizenship verification, monitored by the Supreme Court, has not yet been completed. The Election Commission has rejected the Kerala government's request to postpone the revision of the voters’ list in view of the local body elections to be held in November. The Commission has decided to revise the voters list from 2002-04 existing in various states. Those who became eligible afterwards will have to submit any of the 12 documents to prove their eligibility to get in the final list. Nevertheless the Aadhaar card was included as an identification document based on the Supreme Court verdict, it is not accepted as a document to prove citizenship. The fact that the deceased, the emigrants and those who have changed their permanent residence could have been included in the electoral roll makes a careful and timely revision necessary. It is doubtless from experience that the unupdated electoral roll could lead to widespread fraudulent voting. However, if the vested interests of the ruling party are lurking in the revision it will end up in the denial of citizenship rights to millions of citizens. Bihar itself is a prime example. The constant campaign by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah that thousands of illegal immigrants from Bangladesh have entered in the voter list of Bihar was further disseminated by equally minded ones. The campaign is vigorously taking place in the state’s Muslim-majority districts and constituencies where Muslim votes are crucial. Thus, the list finally accepted by the Election Commission points to some truths. Before the intensive verification effort, the ratio was 907 women for 1,000 men but the number has reduced to 812 in the revised list. The fall in numbers can be seen just a year later the 2024 Lok Sabha elections in constituencies where there were more women voters than men. Considering the fact that more men are migrating for jobs than women makes one believe that the Election Commission's intervention was deliberate. This will become all the more evident after assembly results are out.
The review process begins with the selection of booth-level officers tasked with preparing the voter list. Fair procedures can be expected only if B.L.O are impartial and accountable. However, it is pointless to expect a free and fair election process when the Election Commission itself is kowtowing to the acolytes of the central government. As the country is ruled by a radical Hindutva government committed to even controlling the judiciary, the only way out for the civil society, political parties, and social activists is to remain vigilant. Public awareness led to the Supreme Court's intervention to an extent in Bihar. Although the chances of repeating it in enlightened Kerala is relatively low, but the adamancy to carry out revision ahead of the local elections should be watched with extreme caution. Those who gained the right to vote after 2002 and those who are in the existing list should find time to submit new applications along with the necessary documents; political and social activists should be fully vigilant in this regard. The situation of excluding from the final list those who are temporarily away or out of the country should not be allowed to happen. A significant portion of new voters are likely to have left the state or the country for educational reasons. Even if they can apply online, they should not forget that without the intervention of others they are not going to lose not just votes.