Bihar Polls: A tale of two voter ID cards — what you should do, penalties and the law

Apart from the political battle, poll-bound Bihar is witnessing another battle — a fight over voter ID cards. Allegations are running high in the state after many high-profile people were found possessing two voter ID cards.

The Election Commission, which is under Opposition fire over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in the state, has taken the issue seriously. It has sent notices to these people and asked them for a reply.

It started after allegations surfaced that Rashtriya Janata Dal MLA and former Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav held two voter ID cards in Bihar.

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There are over 96 crore registered voters in Bihar, and the EC has acknowledged that a small percentage of entries, sometimes caused by human error or deliberate duplication, may be inaccurate. The EC, in its draft electoral roll published on August 1, enlisted 7.24 crore voters and excluded more than 65 lakh names. The poll body said these were 22 lakh deceased, 36 lakh migrated/untraceable, and seven lakh duplicate voters.

Cases of two voter ID cards

Recently, the EC issued a notice to Bihar Deputy Chief Minister and senior BJP leader Vijay Kumar Sinha for allegedly having two voter ID cards and being registered in two different Assembly constituencies. Yadav claimed that Sinha is listed as a voter in both the Lakhisarai and Bankipur constituencies, which are in different districts.

Another person in the list is Muzaffarpur Mayor and BJP leader Nirmala Devi, who has received a notice for allegedly possessing two voter ID cards. The EC also sent notices to her two relatives — Manoj Kumar and Dilip Kumar — who also allegedly have voter ID cards for two booths in the same Assembly constituency.

A notice has also been issued to LJP (Ram Vilas) MP from Bihar’s Vaishali Veena Devi and her husband Dinesh Singh, a JD(U) MLC, for allegedly possessing two voter ID cards each. The action came hours after Yadav alleged that the couple possessed two voter ID cards each.

What to do if you have two voter cards

The EC urges citizens to correct duplicate voter ID records promptly. If you discover you have two voter cards — whether by accident or oversight — follow these steps:

• Fill Form 7 to request deletion of one entry.
• Provide the EPIC number of the older or incorrect card to your local booth-level officer (BLO).
• Surrender the duplicate card at the nearest election office.

If the duplication was unintentional, authorities generally do not impose harsh penalties. However, obtaining a second card deliberately — especially to vote more than once or use it as fake ID — can invite strict legal action.

What happens if you’re caught

If found with two voter cards, you could face:

• A show-cause notice from the ECI.
• FIR registration and legal proceedings.
• Disqualification from contesting elections or availing government schemes.
• Removal of your name from the voter list.

Legal provisions

• Section 31 of the Representation of the People Act: Penalises false declarations in electoral records with up to one year imprisonment, a fine, or both. This is a non-cognisable offence, meaning police need a magistrate’s permission to act.
• Section 17: Prohibits enrolment in more than one constituency.
• Section 18: Bars dual registration within the same constituency.
• Violations under Sections 17 and 18 are punishable offences — even if committed unintentionally.

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(Edited by : Shoma Bhattacharjee)