Bihar's Electoral Roll Revision Sees High Participation Amid Concerns

Voter Participation in Bihar's Electoral Roll Revision

On Monday, the Election Commission reported that 83.66% of voters in Bihar have completed their enumeration forms as part of the ongoing special intensive revision of the state's electoral rolls.

The commission noted that 1.59% of electors have passed away, 2.2% have moved permanently, and 0.73% were found to be registered in multiple locations.

As a result, 88.18% of electors have either submitted their enumeration forms, died, or have retained their names at a single location or moved permanently from their previous residence.

Currently, 11.82% of electors still need to submit their enumeration forms, with many requesting additional time to provide the necessary documentation in the upcoming days.

Over 5.74 crore entries have already been uploaded to the ECINET mobile application, according to the commission.

The revision process was initiated by the Election Commission on June 24.

As part of this initiative, individuals whose names were absent from the 2003 voter list must provide proof of their eligibility to vote. This affects approximately 2.9 crore out of the state's 7.8 crore voters, which is about 37% of the electorate.

Voters born before July 1, 1987, are required to present proof of their date and place of birth, while those born between July 1, 1987, and December 2, 2004, must submit documents verifying the date and place of birth of one parent. For those born after December 2, 2004, proof of date of birth for themselves and both parents is necessary.

If electoral registration officers find the provided details satisfactory, voters will be re-enrolled in a new voter list. Otherwise, they will be removed from the voter rolls.

A draft roll is set to be published on August 1, with the final roll expected by September 30. Bihar is anticipated to hold Assembly elections in October or November.

On July 2, eleven parties from the INDIA bloc expressed concerns to the Election Commission, stating that the special intensive revision could disenfranchise over 2.5 crore voters who may struggle to provide the required documents.

Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar defended the revision process on July 6, asserting that it was necessary due to widespread dissatisfaction with the current voter rolls.

Recently, the Supreme Court urged the Election Commission to accept Aadhaar cards, voter ID cards, and ration cards as valid documents for the electoral roll revision. The court is scheduled to continue hearing the case on July 28.