Source: The post Bihar voter deletions disenfranchise young women amid migration ambiguity has been created, based on the article “How women migrant electors are disenfranchised in the Bihar SIR process” published in “The Hindu” on 22nd August 2025. Bihar voter deletions disenfranchise young women amid migration ambiguity.
UPSC Syllabus Topic: GS Paper 1- Population and associated issues.
Context: Bihar’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) produced a draft roll on August 1, 2025. Supreme Court–mandated, AC-wise lists enabled granular analysis. Patterns indicate migration-linked removals concentrated among young women, raising concerns of systemic bias and disenfranchisement.
For detailed information on Ensuring voting rights for India’s migrant population read this article here
Scale and Patterns of Deletions
- Overall magnitude and timeline: The EC used the June 24, 2025 base roll to compile deletions for the draft published on August 1, 2025.
- Reasons for removal: Over 55% were permanently shifted or untraceable. About 34% were deceased. Only 10.8% were multiple enrolments.
- Granular constituency insights: AC-wise lists allowed The Hindu’s Data Point analysis. In the top nine ACs, 4.73 lakh names were deleted, and 56%were women.
- Female-specific patterns: Of 2.68 lakh deleted women in these ACs, 46% were permanently shifted, 27% untraceable, 20% deceased, and 6%multiple enrolments. Of 1.23 lakh women removed as permanently shifted, 66% were 18–39.
Gendered Migration and Built-in Bias
- Marriage as the driver: Census data show marriage dominates female migration; in Bihar, it accounts for 85.7% of female migrants.
- Signal from age-wise deletions: Concentration among women 18–39 classified as permanently shifted indicates exclusion of married women en masse.
- Design concerns in SIR 2025: The pattern reflects an exclusionary migrant bias and a gender bias against young married women.
- Ambiguity of “ordinary residence”: Eligibility requires being “ordinarily resident,” but statutes do not define it, enabling arbitrary deletions.
Process Design and Legal Gaps
- Extra-legal procedural hurdle: SIR required existing electors to submit an enumeration form within 30 days. This added an extra-legal filter that burdens migrants, especially women.
- Narrow framing of migration: The June 24 SIR order mentions education and livelihood but omits marriage, the principal female migration reason.
- Multiple entries vs migration: Multiple-enrolment deletions are far fewer than migration-related deletions, weakening the rationale for mass removals.
Risks of Disenfranchisement
- Deletion without re-enrolment: Removing “permanently shifted” electors without ensuring re-enrolment at current residence leads to disenfranchisement.
- Unsettled legal guidance: The EC Manual (March 2023) notes Section 20(7) empowers EROs to decide ordinary residence, yet no rules exist.
- Bihar’s migration reality: Launching SIR in a high out-migration State without clarifying migrant status produced mass exclusion. A focus on “foreign illegal migrants” diverted attention.
Path Forward and Immediate Measures
- Define principles and act now: Clarifying “ordinary residence,” including marriage-driven migration, will take time. Immediate safeguards are essential.
- Current response is inadequate: By August 21, only 70,895 claims/objections and 2.28 lakh Form 6 applications were filed. Roughly 36 lakh marked as shifted or untraceable may remain excluded.
- Targeted corrective steps: Extend deadlines by 30 days, re-verify shifted and untraceable cases, mandate re-enrolment in current constituencies, and let women choose natal or marital household rolls.
Question for practice:
Examine how Bihar’s SIR 2025 deletions, driven by migration and unclear “ordinary residence,” disproportionately excluded young married women and risked disenfranchisement?
