At least 35 lakh names are expected to be removed from Bihar’s voter list when the draft electoral rolls are released, according to the Election Commission (EC).
This is part of a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral list ahead of the Bihar assembly elections, scheduled for October-November this year.
So far, 88.18% of the total 7.89 crore names on the existing voter list have been verified during the ongoing door-to-door enumeration drive. The revision process is set to continue for 11 more days.
Reasons for Removal and Next Steps
The EC explained that out of the 6.6 crore voters already covered:
12.5 lakh (1.59%) were found to be deceased
17.5 lakh (2.2%) had permanently moved out of Bihar
5.5 lakh (0.73%) were registered in two different places
This brings the total number of deletions to around 35 lakh voters, or roughly 5% of the verified list, as reported by NDTV.
Currently, 11.82% of voters are yet to submit their enumeration forms. Many of them have requested more time to provide the necessary documents.
The EC stated that the draft electoral roll will be published on August 1. Voters who fail to submit their enumeration forms by July 25 will not be included in the draft list.
However, there’s still an opportunity to be added later. During the claims and objections period, eligible voters can apply using Form 6 and a declaration form.
Booth-Level Agents (BLAs) are allowed to submit up to 10 forms per day, even after the draft is published. The final voter list will be published on September 30.
Supreme Court Involvement
The electoral roll revision has faced criticism from the opposition and has led to over 10 petitions being filed in the Supreme Court. One of these was by the NGO Association for Democratic Reforms.
Despite the concerns, the Supreme Court allowed the EC to continue the special scrutiny, stating that it is a “constitutional mandate”.
The court also instructed the EC to accept Aadhaar, voter ID, and ration cards as valid documents for voter identification during this revision process.
