Citizens should register themselves as voters only in constituencies they are ordinary residents: Chief Election Commissioner

Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar on Tuesday asserted that eligible citizens should register themselves as voters only in constituencies of which they are ordinary residents and not the place where they own a house.

His remarks come as the poll machinery in Bihar undertakes a special intensive review (SIR) of the voters list of the state, which is going to the polls later this year.

One of the key objectives of the drive is to identify "many persons" who have, knowingly or unknowingly, managed to retain multiple voter cards of different constituencies.


Addressing a group of booth-level officers here, the CEC said, "As per the Representation of the People Act, you are entitled to vote only in the assembly constituency where you are an ordinary resident. For example, if you ordinarily reside in Delhi but own a house in Patna, your vote should be registered in Delhi, not in Patna."

Many persons are ordinary residents of one place and have got their voter card from that location while retaining their earlier card from before migration, which, officials pointed out, is a criminal offence.

The opposition parties have claimed that the exercise could deprive genuine voters of their right and benefit the ruling dispensation in Bihar.

The electoral rolls were prepared afresh through various intensive revisions, either across the country or in parts, nine times in the 52-year period from 1952 to 2004 -- once nearly every six years on average.

But this time the exercise is taking place after 22 years.

The Election Commission will carry out an intensive review of electoral rolls this year in six states, beginning with Bihar, to weed out foreign illegal migrants by checking their place of birth.

Bihar is going to the polls later this year, while assembly elections in Assam, Kerala, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal are scheduled in 2026.

The move, which would be later expanded to other states, assumes significance in the wake of a crackdown in various states on illegal foreign migrants, including from Bangladesh and Myanmar.

The Election Commission officials said although the poll authority has addressed the issue of duplicate voter card numbers -- same card numbers erroneously issued to two different persons -- the issue of many persons enrolling in different places by giving different unmatching details to procure more than one electoral photo identity card can only be resolved through SIR.