Universal adult franchise is meaningless without an inclusive electoral roll. Suggest institutional safeguards against wrongful deletion.

Article 326 gives every adult citizen the vote, but a citizen can vote only if their name is on the electoral roll. The Supreme Court (2026) held that the franchise must be protected through a roll that is "accurate, inclusive, and legally valid" [1]. A wrongful deletion therefore takes away a person's vote without anyone noticing.

Why an inclusive roll decides the franchise

• Scale: Bihar's SIR draft roll (Aug 2025) left out nearly 65 lakh of 7.89 crore electors. Of these, 36 lakh were "permanently shifted or not found" [1], which is the hardest category to verify.
• Deletion is only a first guess: the final roll rose to about 7.42 crore after claims [2], so many of those excluded were eligible.
• Who loses most: migrants, renters, the urban poor and women who moved after marriage. They are often away when the Booth Level Officer (BLO) visits.
• Getting back on the roll is risky: deleted Delhi voters are allegedly being told to re-apply as new voters and declare they never voted [3]. A false declaration can bring up to one year in jail under Sec. 31, RP Act 1950 [4].

Institutional safeguards

1. Due process first: a show-cause notice, hearing and reasoned order by the Electoral Registration Officer (ERO), as the SIR guidelines provide [1]. A voter already on the roll is presumed eligible, as held in Lal Babu Hussein (1995) [5].
2. Second check for "absent" voters: a repeat BLO visit and a written notice before anyone is marked "shifted".
3. Transparency: publish deleted names with reasons, as the Court ordered on 14 Aug 2025 [1]. The list should be online and shared with booth agents.
4. Simple way back: Form 8, or a separate restoration form, that confirms rather than denies earlier enrolment. This is the relief sought in the Delhi plea [3].
5. Flexible documents: accept Aadhaar for claims, as the Court directed [1].
6. Appeals and audit: time-bound appeals to the District Magistrate and then the Chief Electoral Officer under Sec. 24, RP Act [1], plus random social audits of deletions.

BLO flag → Notice + 2nd visit → ERO hearing → Reasoned order
        → Public list with reasons → Claim → Appeal (DM → CEO)

Fig: Deletion pipeline with built-in safeguards

Under Art. 324, the ECI has two duties: keep the roll clean and include every eligible citizen. The safeguards above keep the burden of proof on the State, make deletions transparent and make it easy to get back on the roll. With them, the ECI can clean the rolls without shutting out genuine voters. That gives real meaning to universal adult franchise and to SDG 16.7's goal of inclusive, participatory decision-making.