The Election Commission of India (ECI) has flagged 11,000 “not traceable” electors in Bihar’s ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, warning they could be illegal immigrants. While the SIR exercise has verified millions, these missing entries—who failed verification at their registered addresses—have triggered alarm about potential bogus voting.

This revelation follows the earlier identification of over 3.57 million untraceable names, including roughly 1.26 million presumed deceased, 1.74 million who relocated, and 576,000 duplicates. The ECI has set July 25 as the deadline for voters to validate their status, encouraging migrant voters to participate via special camps, the ECINet App, or online portals.

Opposition voices, led by Bihar’s Tejashwi Yadav, have accused the ECI of targeting migrant workers by purging legitimate voters. Tejashwi warned that removing names may hinder access to welfare schemes and local electoral rights. He announced plans to escalate the issue nationally and demanded full data disclosure before any deletions.

Amid claims that thousands may be foreigners enrolled illicitly, ECI representatives insist the SIR aims to cleanse the rolls transparently. Political leaders now face a race against time to resolve the controversy before final voter lists are published on August 1.