No party raised claim or objection to draft electoral rolls in Bihar: EC

The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Thursday said that not even a single claim or objection has been submitted by any political party regarding the draft electoral rolls in Bihar.

The Election Commission has asserted that no eligible elector will be left out and no ineligible elector will be included in the final electoral roll of Bihar. It has appealed to submit claims and objections to rectify any errors in the draft electoral Roll of Bihar, which was published on August 1.

However, the EC has received 5,015 claims and objections directly from the electors with respect to the draft roll till today, said the ECI in a daily bulletin on the special intensive revision (SIR) of the electoral roll in Bihar.

Forms received from new electors on attaining 18 years of age or above are 27,517.

As per the rules, the claims & objections are to be disposed of by the concerned Electoral Registration Officer/Assistant Electoral Registration Officer (ERO/AERO) after the expiry of 7 days.

As per SIR orders, no name can be deleted from the draft list published on August 1, without passing a speaking order by the ERO/AERO after conducting an enquiry and after giving a fair and reasonable opportunity.

The Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar has sparked a political row, with the opposition INDIA bloc alleging that the revision process could lead to the deletion of a large number of voters.

They have been protesting in the Parliament, demanding a discussion over the Bihar SIR, since the start of this year's monsoon session.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court on Wednesday asked the Election Commission to file its response by August 9 on a fresh application of an NGO seeking disclosure of data of 65 lakh voters who were not included in the Bihar draft electoral roll after the SIR drive.

Advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for an NGO, mentioned the matter before the apex court, saying no specific information has been given on who is dead and who has permanently migrated out.

A bench of Justices Surya Kant, Ujjal Bhuyan and N Kotiswar Singh asked the counsel for the Election Commission to furnish the details of deleted voters, the data which has been shared with the political parties, and give a copy to the NGO.

The Election Commission said all requisite information had been given to political parties.

The bench told Bhushan that the reason for deletion would come in the subsequent time, as it is now only a draft list.

However, Bhushan said that some political parties have been given a list of deleted voters, but they have not further clarified whether the voter is dead or has migrated.

On August 1, ECI released the draft electoral rolls for Bihar, following the completion of the Enumeration Phase under the SIR 2025. It said the public has one month to submit claims and objections, assuring that "no name will be removed from the draft voter list without a stated reason".

The poll panel said that l.60 lakh Booth Level Agents (BLAs) nominated by District Presidents of 12 political parties actively participated in the process on the ground.

The commission enabled electors to verify their names through the official link using their EPIC numbers. They were also allowed to file claims and objections for inclusion or deletion of names through the same portal.

In a drive to ensure accurate and updated voter identity cards, the ECI urged all voters to submit new photographs to their Booth Level Officers (BLOs) by September 1, 2025.

According to data from the revision exercise in Bihar, around 35 lakh electors have either migrated permanently or could not be traced at their registered addresses.