Over 65 lakh voters in Bihar were flagged as deceased, migrated, or duplicate during the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision, sparking opposition concerns over potential voter disenfranchisement ahead of final scrutiny.
ECI's special revision in Bihar reveals significant voter roll anomalies, sparking a political row over fairness and timing.
New Delhi: The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Sunday revealed that over 65 lakh electors, which is nearly 8.3 percent of the state's total electorate, were either deceased, permanently shifted, untraceable, or found to be registered at multiple locations during the special intensive revision of voter rolls in Bihar.
The Commission shared the official data, which highlighted that out of 7.89 crore registered voters in Bihar as of June 24, 2025, enumeration forms were submitted by over 7.24 crore electors, reflecting a 91.69 percent participation rate in the state.
It said that the poll panel found that 22 lakh electors, or 2.83 percent, are deceased, while another 36 lakh, or 4.59 percent, were either permanently shifted or not found at their listed addresses.
It further said that 7 lakh electors, or 0.89 percent, were discovered to be enrolled at multiple places in the electoral rolls in other states.
The Commission said that these discrepancies were identified during the enumeration phase conducted from June 24 to July 25.
As per the Commission’s explanation, electors who were not found may have become voters in other states, ceased to exist, not returned their forms on time, or expressed unwillingness to remain registered.
It also said that the credit for the successful completion of the first phase of SIR also goes to the CEO of Bihar, DEOs of all 38 districts, 243 EROs, 2,976 AEROs, BLOs deployed at 77,895 polling booths, lakhs of volunteers, and full involvement of the field representatives of all 12 major political parties, including their District Presidents and as many as 1.60 lakh BLAs appointed by them.
The total number of BLAs increased more than 16 percent during the SIR period of June 24 to July 25.
The Commission also pointed out that by July 20, CEOs or DEOs or EROs or BLOs shared with political parties the booth-level lists of electors who were reported as deceased electors, or whose Enumeration Forms were not received, or who were reported to be permanently migrated, or who could not be traced with the objective of requesting them to inquire about such electors in a focused manner.
"Subsequently, after noticing the efforts of the political parties, such updated lists were again shared with the representatives of political parties," it stated.
It also said that the final status of these electors will be determined by August 1 after scrutiny by Electoral Registration Officers (EROs), and genuine voters can still be reinstated during the claims and objection period from August 1 to September 1.
The Commission highlighted that one of the key goals of the SIR was to ensure participation of all electors and political parties.
The Commission also said that no eligible elector in Bihar should be left behind.
"SMS campaigns were conducted to 5.7 crore mobile numbers, and BLOs undertook repeated house visits to ensure submission of forms. Efforts were also made to reach temporary migrants from Bihar through nationwide newspaper ads in 246 dailies and coordination with CEOs of other states," it said.
It also stated that around 29 lakh forms were accessed by migrants online, 16 lakh through the ECINet app and 13 lakh via downloads.
It also asserted that urban and young voters were another key focus.
"Camps were organized across 5,683 urban wards in 261 urban local bodies, and special drives are planned between August 1 and September 1 to enroll youth who have or will turn 18 by October 1, 2025," it said.
The ECI further stated that electoral officers, volunteers, and political parties have worked together to support senior citizens, persons with disabilities, and vulnerable groups in filing necessary documents.
Meanwhile, ECI sources said that it is not able to understand that when a full one-month period from August 1 till September 1 is available to point out wrongful inclusion or wrongful exclusion of any name, why are they creating such a big fuss now?
The source also said, Why not ask their 1.6 lakh BLAs to submit claims and objections from August 1 till September 1?.
"Why are some persons trying to give the impression that the draft list is the final list, which it is not, as per SIR orders?" the source asked.
The claims came amid the Opposition parties raising questions on the SIR exercise and alleging it as votebandi, saying that this exercise will disenfranchise lakhs of voters in the state.
