Three United Nations special rapporteurs have raised concerns over the alleged disproportionate impact of India’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls on minority communities, flagging mass voter deletions, “discriminatory rhetoric” and the reported use of artificial intelligence to identify irregularities in voter data.
The Indian government has not yet officially responded to the concerns raised in the UN experts’ communication.
In a letter to the government dated 1 May, the special rapporteurs expressed concern over the large-scale removal of names from electoral rolls and said minority groups could be particularly affected.
The experts also noted concerns over the alleged use of artificial intelligence to flag irregularities in electoral data, warning that it could raise questions about “transparency, errors and potential bias”.
According to the communication, nearly 52 million names have been removed from electoral rolls across 12 states and Union Territories during the SIR exercise.
“West Bengal has been particularly affected, where a total of 9.1 million names were reportedly deleted from the register,” the letter said.
The third phase of the electoral roll revision is currently under way in 16 states and three Union Territories.
The UN experts also flagged allegations that voters had been removed from electoral rolls because of minor spelling discrepancies and raised concerns over the time available to tribunals to hear appeals against exclusions.
The letter particularly highlighted what it described as “discriminatory rhetoric” against minority communities by political leaders.
“Senior government officials, including the Union Home Minister [Amit Shah], have reportedly publicly framed the deletion of voter names as targeting illegal Bangladeshi immigrants, a rhetoric that conflates legitimate Indian Muslim citizens with foreign nationals,” the communication said.
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