The issue becomes more complicated with long-term migrants. In Bihar’s case, there is a significant section of the voting-age population, especially males, migrating for work. This becomes evident when parsing voting data from the 2024 general election in the State, revealing a unique electoral dynamic. Bihar is a State where more women turned out to vote than men in absolute numbers (for every 1,000 men there were 1,017.5 women ), even though there were more registered male electors on the rolls (for every 1,000 men, there were only 917.5 women). This electoral dynamic was observed in Jharkhand, and to a lesser extent in Himachal Pradesh, but nowhere was the difference starker than in Bihar. There is good reason to believe that many of the absentee male electors were registered in their home constituencies in Bihar but were unable to return on polling day, drastically lowering the overall turnout rate for men. These electors were likely part of a large migrant cohort that included many longer-term migrants. The SIR must carefully parse such electors and ensure that only longer-term migrants are removed from the rolls — not an easy task. For longer-term migrants, meaningful representation requires their vote to be registered where they currently reside and work. Migrant workers are integral to the economic engines of several States, and their political voice should be more impactful in holding representatives accountable for their everyday challenges there, rather than in their native places. The ECI’s SIR must balance these principles. Ideally, such a process should take more time than the one month that the ECI has allocated for it.