Anjali Bhardwaj, a noted activist and transparency advocate, posted a tweet on X that has raised significant concerns about the election commission of india (ECI)'s handling of voter rolls in Bihar. The tweet includes four images of a PDF document titled "Nivachak Namavali 2025 S04 bihar," downloaded on august 4 and 8, 2025, which appears to be a draft electoral roll for the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process.
Bhardwaj questions why the ECI has altered the format of these voter lists on its website, making them non-searchable and thus difficult for the public to navigate or verify. The document, written in Hindi, details voter information for the Walimikinagar (Samastipur) area, with dates ranging from July 1 to august 1, 2025, but lacks the searchable text functionality that was previously available, prompting her to label this change as "retrograde."
The images reveal a standard voter list layout, including fields for voter details such as name, address, and polling station, but the key issue highlighted by Bhardwaj is the absence of a search box function that once allowed users to easily locate specific entries. This change is exemplified by the static PDF format, where annotations indicate the file download dates and the specific constituency (Bhag 1, Walimikinagar), yet the inability to search within the document frustrates efforts to scrutinize the data effectively.
Bhardwaj’s critique suggests that this deliberate shift could be an attempt to obscure discrepancies or irregularities in the voter rolls, a concern amplified by the timing, as bihar prepares for future electoral exercises. The tweet, accompanied by a link to the ECI website, calls for accountability and transparency, urging the commission to explain this apparent regression in accessibility.
Bhardwaj questions why the ECI has altered the format of these voter lists on its website, making them non-searchable and thus difficult for the public to navigate or verify. The document, written in Hindi, details voter information for the Walimikinagar (Samastipur) area, with dates ranging from July 1 to august 1, 2025, but lacks the searchable text functionality that was previously available, prompting her to label this change as "retrograde."
The images reveal a standard voter list layout, including fields for voter details such as name, address, and polling station, but the key issue highlighted by Bhardwaj is the absence of a search box function that once allowed users to easily locate specific entries. This change is exemplified by the static PDF format, where annotations indicate the file download dates and the specific constituency (Bhag 1, Walimikinagar), yet the inability to search within the document frustrates efforts to scrutinize the data effectively.
Bhardwaj’s critique suggests that this deliberate shift could be an attempt to obscure discrepancies or irregularities in the voter rolls, a concern amplified by the timing, as bihar prepares for future electoral exercises. The tweet, accompanied by a link to the ECI website, calls for accountability and transparency, urging the commission to explain this apparent regression in accessibility.