Bihar draft electoral roll: No demands yet to add or drop names, says EC

Business Standard

2 days ago

As Bihar prepares for the Assembly election in 2025, the Election Commission (EC) on Sunday said that no political party has so far approached it to request any changes—either additions or deletions—to the draft electoral roll released on 1 August.
Between 3 pm on 1 August and 3 pm on 3 August, the EC said it did not receive any official requests from political parties under the claims and objections process. However, over 3,200 first-time voters applied for inclusion during this period.
'No booth-level agent (BLA) of any political party has submitted a single case to booth-level officers (BLOs) in the past 24 hours, despite all BLAs having agreed to carefully review the boothwise draft lists shared with them on 1 August,' the EC said.
However, individual voters have started to respond. The commission confirmed that 941 claims and objections have been submitted so far by citizens. These include requests to add names to the list and to remove names that voters believe are incorrect or ineligible.
Political parties and the general public still have time to submit their requests.
The voter list is being updated through a process called Special Intensive Revision (SIR). It is part of the EC's regular effort to ensure that the electoral roll is accurate before upcoming elections.
Recently, some opposition parties have criticised the EC, claiming that the ongoing revision could leave out many eligible voters due to document-related issues. Parties have also alleged that this may affect crores of people, especially those from poor or marginalised backgrounds.
In response, the Election Commission has assured the public that no eligible voter will be left out. Officials have said they are taking every step to ensure that the final voter list is fair and complete.
The EC also reminded people that the draft roll is open for public review, and encouraged both voters and political parties to take part in the process.