Page 15 - Election Commission Of India

Bihar SIR: After SC directive, EC allows excluded voters to submit Aadhaar

The Election Commission (EC) on Monday said people who have been left out of Bihar's draft voter list can submit a copy of their Aadhaar to include their name in the electoral roll, after the Supreme Court directed the poll authority to accept the card as proof of identity. In a statement, the EC said according to rules, the claims and objections are to be disposed of by the concerned electoral registration officer not before the expiry of seven days after the verification of eligibility documents. It also underlined that according to Special Intensive Revision (SIR) orders, no name can be deleted from the draft list published on August 1 without passing a speaking order by the electoral registration officer (ERO) after conducting an enquiry and after giving a fair and reasonable opportunity. The list of 65 lakh people excluded from the draft list is available on the websites of the district magistrates of Bihar. "Aggrieved persons may submit their claims along with a copy of their

Govt introduces Jan Vishwas (Amendment) Bill 2025 in LS, sent to committee

The Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Bill 2025, which seeks to decriminalise certain minor offences to promote ease of living and business, was introduced in the Lok Sabha on Monday and referred to a Select Committee. Introducing the bill, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said the bill seeks to enhance trust-based governance for ease of doing business. The Bill was then referred to the Select Committee of the Lok Sabha. The committee has been tasked to submit its report to the House by the first day of the next session of Parliament. The Bill was introduced amid din as Opposition parties protested demanding a discussion on the voter roll revision in Bihar and other issues. As the protests continued, Lok Sabha proceedings were adjourned till 2 PM. Over 350 provisions are proposed to be amended through this Bill. The legislation is part of the government's efforts to improve the business climate of the country. Earlier in 2023, the Jan Vishwas (Amendment to Provisi

EC makes public names of 6.5 mn people deleted from Bihar voter list

The Election Commission (EC) on Monday came out with the names of 65 lakh people who were removed from the draft electoral rolls published as part of the special intensive revision (SIR) exercise, officials said. The development came in the backdrop of the Supreme Court's direction that details of the deleted names be made public by August 19 and a compliance report be filed by August 22. The EC is publishing the names of 'ASD' (Absentee, Shifted, and Dead) voters across polling booths, and is likely to do so online as has been directed by the apex court, they said. According to the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), Bihar, ASD lists have been displayed at polling booths in Rohtas, Begusarai, Arwal and other places.

SIR new weapon of 'vote chori', will protect 'one person, one vote': Rahul

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday said the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls is a "new weapon" of "vote chori" and vowed to protect the 'one person, one vote' principle. He made the remarks in a post on his WhatsApp channel while talking about his meeting with a group of people who had cast their vote in the previous Lok Sabha election but their name had been deleted in the SIR exercise in Bihar. Gandhi met the group at the launch of his Vote Adhikar Yatra in Sasaram on Sunday. In his post in Hindi along with a picture of the meeting, the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha said, "SIR is a new weapon of vote theft. Coincidentally, these people standing with me in this picture are 'living' proof of this theft." "All of them had cast their vote in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections - but by the time Bihar assembly elections came, their identity, their existence was erased from the democracy of India," he said. "Do you know who they are? Raj Mohan Singh (70): Farmer and

Issue between EC, Congress should not be discussed in Parliament: Rijiju

Rijiju also announced that Parliament will hold a special discussion to honour Captain Shubhanshu Shukla and his recent space visit to the ISS as part of India's space mission

Akhilesh asks EC to verify affidavit receipts over 2022 UP poll 'anomalies'

Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav on Sunday asked the Election Commission of India (ECI) to see the acknowledgement receipts of affidavits submitted to the poll body by the party regarding "anomalies" in the 2022 Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls. In a post on X, Yadav demanded the poll panel to issue an affidavit confirming the authenticity of the digital receipts his party received against its submissions. He also shared screengrabs of their submissions regarding the 2022 Assembly poll results in Amapur, Bakshi Ka Talab, Jaunpur Sadar and Kursi constituencies. His remarks came after Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar at a press conference on Sunday spoke about the "vote theft" charges levelled by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi against the poll body. The CEC also spoke on the issues flagged by several opposition parties about the ongoing revision of electoral rolls in Bihar. Hitting back at the allegations, the CEC questioned why "vote chori" charges are raised if no elect

AI, deepfakes real challenges before election commission: CEC Gyanesh Kumar

Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar on Sunday said artificial intelligence and deepfakes pose a real challenge for the poll panel, which will try its best to tackle them within the framework of law. He also indicated that machine-readable electoral rolls could result in breach of voters' privacy. Addressing a press conference here, Kumar said, "Artificial Intelligence (AI) and deepfakes are indeed real challenges for us. Just yesterday, an X handle had shared an AI-generated video that was far from truth." "The Election Commission will try its best to tackle such challenges, but it can only operate within the framework of the law," the chief election commissioner said. On the opposition demand for machine-readable electoral rolls, Kumar said the Supreme Court has already given a judgment in this regard in 2019. "The Supreme Court has already said in 2019 that it can result in a breach of voters' privacy," he said. Kumar added that a few days ago, photos of several voters we

Give affidavit or apologise: CEC Gyanesh Kumar hits back at Rahul Gandhi

The remarks by the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) came on a day when Gandhi-led opposition launched the 'Voter Adhikar Yatra' in Bihar and stepped up attack against the Special Intensive Revision

Voter list in machine-readable form can't be shared: CEC cites SC order

Citing a 2019 Supreme Court judgment, Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar on Sunday said that the voter list in machine-readable format cannot be shared with political parties. He also said there was a difference between machine-readable and searchable formats. Addressing a press conference here, Kumar said that the voter list available on its website can be searched using a voter card number and can also be downloaded. He said the machine-readable format is barred as it can be edited and can lead to its misuse. The Congress has been demanding the voter list in machine-readable format, saying it will help it flag flaws. The CEC said that in 2019, the top court had sided with its stand that a machine-readable format cannot be shared as it could compromise voters' privacy. Officials pointed out that the issue was already raised by the Congress before the Supreme Court in a writ petition in 2018 filed by Kamal Nath, the then president of the Madhya Pradesh Congress ...

EC can't discriminate among political parties: CEC on voter fraud charge

CEC Gyanesh Kumar said only those whose names are in the voter list cast their votes to elect their candidate

Rahul Gandhi to kickstart 'Voter Adhikar Yatra' from Bihar's Sasaram today

Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi will on Sunday begin from here his 1,300 km-long 'Voter Adhikar Yatra' that will cover over 20 districts in Bihar, as the Congress steps up its campaign against what it claims to be "vote chori". With the Assembly polls barely three months away, Gandhi, along with RJD's Tejashwi Yadav and other Mahagathbandhan leaders, will launch the yatra from BIADA Ground Sasaram, and after 16 days, the yatra will conclude with a rally in Patna on September 1. Gandhi is also expected to address a gathering later this evening at Ramesh Chowk, Aurangabad. In a post in Hindi on X on Saturday, Gandhi had said, "16 days, 20+ districts, 1,300+ km. We are coming among the people with the Voter Adhikar Yatra. This is a fight to protect the most basic democratic right - 'one person, one vote'." "Join us in Bihar to save the Constitution," he added. The 'yatra' will be in a hybrid mode, on foot and by vehicle, as was Gandhi's Manipur to Mumbai Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra ahea

EC rejects voter data fudging charge, says parties missed scrutiny window

Seeking to counter opposition parties' allegations of fudging in voter data, the Election Commission (EC) on Saturday said it seems that some political parties did not examine the electoral rolls at the "appropriate time" to point out errors to the poll machinery and noted that it welcomes a scrutiny of the document to help its officials remove flaws. In a statement, the EC said the period for raising claims and objections after the draft voters' list is published is the appropriate time for parties to flag flaws. "It seems that some political parties and their Booth Level Agents (BLAs) did not examine the electoral rolls at the appropriate time and did not point out errors, if any...," it said. It noted that recently, some political parties and individuals raised issues about errors in the electoral rolls, including the electoral rolls prepared in the past. The appropriate time, it said, to raise any issue with the electoral rolls would have been during the "Claims and Objections"

Public has woken up: Rahul shares new video highlighting 'vote theft'

Alluding to Bollywood movies, the Congress stepped up its campaign against alleged "vote theft" on Saturday by releasing a new video titled "laapata vote" to highlight the claim. Posting the video on X, former Congress president Rahul Gandhi said, "'Chori chori, chupke chupke' no more, the public has woken up." His party posted the video on its official social media account and said the "theft of your vote is theft of rights". "Let's raise our voice against vote theft together and save our rights," the party said. In the video, a man is seen pleading in the police station that his "vote has been stolen" and tells the officials there that "lakhs of votes are being stolen", leaving the police personnel wondering if their vote has also been "stolen". The minute-long video is titled 'laapata vote' with 'ladies' cut out from between, a reference to the Kiran Rao-directed movie 'Laapata Ladies'. The Congress released a video depicting how fake votes were being cast on Wednesday, too. Ga

Datanomics: Migration overtakes death for voter deletion in Bihar SIR

These revisions removed 9.4 million voters, with 1.7 million and 1.6 million deletions in 2009-10 and 2023-24, respectively.

Publish list of voters deleted in Bihar SIR before Aug 19: SC to EC

SC orders EC to publish names and reasons for deletion of 65 lakh voters in Bihar's SIR by Aug 19, with booth-wise online access and publicity across multiple platforms

SC tells ECI to publish list of 6.5 mn deleted Bihar voters with reasons

The Supreme Court has told the Election Commission to publish names of 6.5 million voters removed from Bihar's rolls, along with reasons, and ensure the list is easily available to the public

SC asks ECI to detail docs considered in 2003 Bihar electoral roll revision

The Supreme Court on Thursday asked the Election Commission of India (ECI) to inform about the documents considered during the 2003 intensive electoral roll revision in Bihar. A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi, which resumed the hearing on a pleas challenging the June 24 ECI decision to conduct the special intensive revision (SIR) in the state said, "We would like ECI to state what documents were taken in 2003 exercise". The remarks came after advocate Nizam Pasha, appearing for one of the parties, said referred to the court reportedly saying "if the date of January 1, 2003 (the date of earlier SIR) goes then everything goes". "I must submit that nothing was there to show why this date is there The impression sought to be conveyed is that it is the earlier date when the intensive exercise for revision of the electoral roll was held. It is stated that the EPIC (voter) card issued then is more reliable than issued during summary exercises conducted from time to time,

EC notice to NDA MP, her MLC husband for possessing two voter cards

The Election Commission on Thursday served notices 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, an official said. The EC's action came hours after RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav alleged that the couple possessed two voter ID cards each. "The Electoral Registration Officer (ERO) for Muzaffarpur assembly constituency has sent notices to the MP and her husband asking them to submit their replies to the EC over the issue of possessing two voter ID cards by August 16," the official said. Yadav, the leader of opposition in the assembly, shared purported screenshots of draft electoral rolls published following the Special Intensive Revision (SIR), claiming that the NDA MP and the MLC have two voter cards each. "Is it not a case of fraud, manipulation, and collusion by the Election Commission to ensure a victory for BJP-NDA?" he asked. Speaking to reporters, Veena Devi claimed, "I don't know

Give proof, don't use phrases like vote chori, says EC amid voter data row

Amid relentless attacks by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over alleged voter data fudging, the Election Commission on Thursday said instead of creating false narrative by using "dirty phrases" like 'vote chori', proof should be given. In a statement, the EC said the law for "one person one vote" is already is existence since the first elections in 1951-1952. "If anyone has any proof of any person actually voting twice in any election, it should be shared with ECI with a written affidavit rather than colouring all the electors of India as 'chor' without any proof," it said. The poll authority said that by trying to create a false narrative by using "dirty phrases" like "vote chori" for Indian electors, is not only a direct attack on the crores of Indian electors but also an assault on the integrity of lakhs of election staff. Gandhi, the Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha, last week cited data to allege that more than one lakh votes were 'stolen' in the Mahadevpura assembly ...

SC says multiple documents for citizenship in Bihar SIR are voter-friendly

Bench notes that allowing 11 documents to prove citizenship is less restrictive than earlier summary revisions; hearing to resume on Thursday