"The legitimacy of an electoral democracy rests as much on an inclusive electoral roll as on free polling." Examine this in the light of the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls.

Article 326 gives every adult citizen the right to vote. That right can only be used if the citizen's name is on the electoral roll. A free poll held on a flawed roll still shuts out voters, only more quietly. The ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) shows that preparing the roll matters as much to legitimacy as polling day does.

Why the roll matters as much as the poll

• Gateway to franchise: A citizen left off the roll loses the vote before polling begins, and nothing can be fixed on election day.
• Errors in both directions: Duplicate or ineligible entries invite impersonation. Wrongful deletions make the mandate less representative.
• Trust: Losing parties accept results only if they trust the voter list itself.

SIR: strengthening the roll

• Legal footing: The Supreme Court held the SIR to be within the ECI's powers under the RP Act, 1950 and Article 324 [1].
• Safeguards on paper: Booth Level Officers (BLOs) visit every house and make two or three attempts to reach each voter. The draft roll is published for claims and objections, voters can appeal to the District Magistrate, and party Booth Level Agents check the entries [1]. Special Roll Observers oversee the work [2].
• Scale: Phase II covered 9 States and 3 UTs [1].

SIR: risks to inclusion

• Burden shifted to citizens: Critics say electors must now prove they are eligible. Migrants, the poor and people without documents face the highest risk of being dropped.
• Safeguards used against voters: In West Bengal, about 16.1 lakh appeals sought to delete voters who had been kept on the roll after judicial scrutiny [3].
• Weak collegial working: Two Election Commissioners recorded 14 objections to SIR decisions made without their knowledge [3]. They can be removed on the CEC's recommendation (Art. 324(5)), and the 2023 Act gives the government a majority on the selection panel, moving away from Anoop Baranwal [4].

Way forward

• Give all Commissioners equal protection from removal and create an independent secretariat for the ECI, as the Law Commission's 255th Report recommends [5]. The Goswami Committee made the same recommendation on the secretariat [4].
• Delete a name only after notice and a hearing, and restore wrongly deleted voters quickly.
• Publish Commission minutes, including dissents, and name who authorised any mass appeals.

Free polling and an inclusive roll together make a mandate legitimate. The SIR's aim of a clean roll is valid. It will succeed only if it keeps every eligible citizen on the roll and is run through transparent, collegial decisions. That would honour both universal adult franchise and the Constitution's promise of free and fair elections.