Electric field can break apart the excitons to give free electrons and holes and consequently the luminescence gets quenched.
In some cases Electrochemiluminesence will occur due to passage of electricity. However quenching occurs in some cases due to radiationless decay of the excited molecules. This may arise due to collision of excited molecules with other excited molecules or solvent molecules.
For a material/molecule there can be many pathways for deexcitation via non-radiative mechanisms. Electric field induced quenching can be an additional nonradiative mechanism for deexcitation which is only present when an external electric field is applied.
The other thing which can happen in the presence of electric field is alignment of molecular dipoles in the material. And this alignment can influence the excited state lifetime. But for this to happen large electric fields will be required.
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