Bihar SIR: 35.6 Lakh Names to Be Left Out of Electoral Rolls, EC Numbers Reveal
New Delhi: Over 35.6 lakh electors are set to be left out from the electoral rolls in Bihar when the draft electoral rolls are published, the Election Commission's numbers reveal.
In its latest release on the 'special intensive revision' of electoral rolls in Bihar – a project it has undertaken with mere months to go before the November assembly elections in the state – the poll body said that after two rounds of "door-to-door visits" by its officials, 88.18% of total electors have submitted their enumeration forms, died, moved, or retained their names at one place instead of a possible earlier two.
This 88.18% indicates a figure of 7,89,69,844 (7.8 crore) electors in Bihar, according to the EC.
Out of them, 83.66% or 6,60,67,208 (6.6 crore) electors have submitted their forms, the EC said.
The EC gives the breakdown of the others thus: 1.59% of electors (12,55,620) have been found deceased, 2.2% have permanently shifted (17,37,336), and 0.73% were found enrolled (5,76,479) at more than one location.
Together, this number comes to 35,69,435, or more than 35.6 lakh voters. Thus over 35.6 lakh named will already be removed from the voter's list in Bihar, before round three of the SIR exercise has begun.
The draft electoral rolls will be published on August 1.
Meanwhile, the EC has begun – only at this stage – to advertise the exercise on newspapers with a view to reach those who may have temporarily migrated out of Bihar. Several newspapers have run Hindi language ads on the SIR exercise on page one.
The EC's add on the Bihar SIR on the frontpage of The Tribune.
"Such electors can easily fill up EFs online (as per para 3(d) of SIR guidelines) using their mobile phones through the ECINet App or through the online form on https://voters.eci.gov.in. They can also send their forms to the concerned BLOs through their family members or through any online means, including WhatsApp or similar applications," the EC has claimed.
Petitions challenging the sudden SIR by the EC are being heard by the Supreme Court, which has sought an answer from the poll body by July 28.
The EC has made a list of 11 documents that voters can furnish for the exercise. The apex court in the last hearing asked it to consider including the voter ID card, the Aadhaar card and the ration card in the list. In many places, The Wire has reported that BLOs (block level officers) have been taking only Aadhaar even from those who have valid documents.
Read The Wire's full coverage of the Bihar SIR here.
This article went live on July fifteenth, two thousand twenty five, at fifty-seven minutes past two in the afternoon.The Wire is now on WhatsApp. Follow our channel for sharp analysis and opinions on the latest developments.
