On the ground in Bihar: Hundreds of voters, one address

The credibility of India’s electoral process hinges on the credibility of its voter rolls. The Election Commission of India’s special intensive revision in Bihar – an exercise to verify the eligibility of 79 million voters – was meant to ensure this accuracy. It has fallen short.

An ongoing investigation into the draft electoral rolls released by the Election Commission, after it conducted the special intensive revision in Bihar, raises troubling questions about its verification methods.

In five constituencies, 150,000 voters are clustered around just 1,200-1,300 households, an analysis of the voter rolls revealed. We investigated unusually high voter concentrations in 14 such cases – with numbers that ranged from a few dozens to several hundred names registered at a single address.

Interviews with the residents of houses showing unusually high voter registrations and the registered voters themselves showed that, in many cases, the majority of those listed at a given address were actually living elsewhere. Although many residents identified the voters registered at their address as locals from the same village or area, in four cases, they reported being unfamiliar with some of the names entirely.

In one case, two voters were registered to an incorrect address on the rolls even though their voter identity cards reflected...

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