New DelhiAugust 31, 2025 07:00 AM IST
First published on: Aug 31, 2025 at 07:00 AM IST
With two days to go for the deadline of September 1, Election Commission data released Saturday showed that 29,872 electors out of the 65 lakh electors whose names were deleted in the draft stage of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar had applied for inclusion in the final roll.
And 13.33 lakh new electors who have turned 18 years and above have also submitted enrolment forms.
According to the EC’s SIR order issued on June 24, all registered electors (7.89 crore) of Bihar were required to fill enumeration forms by July 25 to make it to the draft roll published on August 1. Based on the forms, the draft roll with 7.24 crore electors was published.
The EC said that the 65 lakh names removed at the draft stage had been marked as either deceased, permanently shifted, untraceable or registered at multiple places.
For anyone left out incorrectly or any ineligible elector retained in the draft, the EC had earmarked the period for filing claims and objections from August 1 to September 1.
While it has been issuing daily updates on the total number of claims and objections the whole month, the EC Saturday gave the number of claims and objections separately for the first time.
According to the EC release, 29,872 claims for inclusion and 1,97,764 objections for exclusions had been received from electors as of 10 am Saturday. Out of these, 33,771 claims and objections had been disposed of after seven days. The Booth Level Agents appointed by political parties, 1.60 lakh in total, had submitted a total of 103 objections and 25 claims for inclusion.
The EC also said it had received 13,33,793 forms from new electors who had turned 18 years or above and disposed of 61,248 such forms after seven days. While September 1 is the last date for filing claims and objections, the Electoral Registration Officers have till September 25 to dispose of them. The final roll is to be published on September 30.
Along with forms, the EC had asked all those registered after 2003, when the last intensive revision of rolls was carried out in Bihar, to submit documents proving their date and/or place of birth, establishing their eligibility to be an elector, including citizenship. For those born after July 1, 1987, the EC required date and/or place of birth proof of the elector’s parents as well, aligning with the requirements of the Citizenship Act, 1955. This is a departure from the established practice and the statutory form for enrolment of electors, which has a self-declaration that the applicant is a citizen but does not require proof.
The SIR order has been challenged in the Supreme Court through a batch of petitions. The next date of hearing is September 1.