Bihar SIR | BLOs Mass-Uploading Enumeration Forms Without Voters' Knowledge Or Consent : ADR Tells Supreme Court

The Association for Democratic Reforms ("ADR") has filed a rejoinder in the batch of petitions challenging the Election Commission of India ("ECI") order of Special Intensive Revision ("SIR") in Bihar. As per the rejoinder, ADR claims that the enumeration forms of voters, which are used to update the electoral rolls, are being mass-uploaded by the Electoral Registration Officers ("EROs") without the consent of the voters.It has been stated that electors who have not submitted enumeration forms along with supporting documents and whose names are not in the Draft rolls, to be published on August 1, stand to be deleted from the roll unless they file a claim for inclusion. Once a claim for inclusion is filed, if the ERO has any doubt as to the eligibility of any elector, he can start a suo moto inquiry and issue a notice as to why the name of the elector should not be deleted. Against the decision of the ERO, an appeal can be filed before the District Magistrate under Section 24(a) or Section 24(b) (second appeal) before the CEO under the Representation of the People Act, 1950.ADR argues that a single ERO has been tasked with handling enumeration forms of over "3 lakh individuals", rendering it humanly impossible for them to apply due diligence or reasonably conduct the process. Moreover, it alleges that the whole mechanism is impractical as it fails to provide affected voters sufficient time to have their appeals adjudicated before the finalisation of the electoral rolls.ADR says that in order to achieve the "unrealistic target" set by the ECI, the enumeration forms are not just being mass-uploaded without the consent of the voters; in many cases, the forms of voters have been submitted online and they have received acknowledgment receipt on their phones, despite they never having met any BLOs or signed any documents."...enumeration forms are being mass-uploaded by BLOs without the knowledge or consent of the voters, in order to achieve the unrealistic target set by the ECI. Many voters have reported that their forms have been submitted online, despite never having met with any BLOs or signed any documents. Forms of even dead individuals have been reported to have been submitted. The above points to the flawed manner in which the current SIR of electoral rolls is being conducted, where the integrity of the electoral rolls is compromised, potentially affecting millions of voters and undermining the democratic process. The situation raises serious questions about transparency, accountability, and the potential for electoral fraud, as voters express confusion and concern over how their details were uploaded without their involvement," the ADR said.The ADR relies upon a series of reports published in the media by Senior Journalist Ajit Anjum on how enumeration forms are being filled in the absence of voters by the Booth Level Officers (BLOs) themselves. As per news reports from the ground, the ECI guidelines have not been followed during the SIR process as most BLOs are not giving the acknowledgement receipt of forms so collected by them to the electors.The ADR filed the rejoinder in response to the counter-affidavit filed by the Election Commission last week.In its rejoinder, the ADR also question the ECI's stand that Aadhaar card, Electoral Photo Identity Card and the Ration Card are not reliable documents for the SIR. It raised apprehensions of a "huge risk of disenfranchisement" of millions of voters due to the short time interval before the assembly elections due in November this year."With elections stated to be held in October-November 2025, there is no time for a large number of voters -- both who do not have documents but have submitted form and whose names do not find a mention in draft roll to get themselves included in the rolls. Moreover, the impact of deletion of migrated electors can be substantial if they are clustered within a few constituencies and demographics," it said.A bench comprising Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi will hear the matter on July 28.ADR's rejoinder is drawn by Advocates Neha Rathi and Kajal Giri, and filed through Advocate Prashant Bhushan.Case Details: Association for Democratic Reforms and Ors. v. Election Commission of India and connected matters| W.P.(C) No. 640/2025 and connected matters

Bihar SIR | BLOs Mass-Uploading Enumeration Forms Without Voters' Knowledge Or Consent : ADR Tells Supreme Court

Gursimran Kaur Bakshi

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