Bihar Electoral Roll Revision: Over 2 Lakh Urges To Delete Names, 33,000 Urges To Include

The month-long period for filing claims and objections to the Bihar draft electoral rolls ends on Monday. Over 33,000 electors have filed pleas for inclusion of their names in the rolls, while more than 2 lakh requests have been made for the deletion of names alleged to be wrongly included.

The draft electoral rolls were published on August 1 and kept open for public review until September 1.

Individuals and political parties have the right under election law to file objections or seek corrections in the draft voter list.

Rights of Voters and Parties Under Law

Election law allows people and political parties to demand inclusion or exclusion of names from the draft voter list. Individuals who find themselves excluded despite being eligible can submit claims for inclusion, while political parties or citizens may also object to ineligible names. The booth-level agents appointed by different parties have so far filed 25 claims for inclusion and 103 for deletion. Once the review process concludes, the Election Commission will finalize the voter list. The final electoral roll for Bihar, expected to go to polls in November, will be published on September 30.

Supreme Court to Hear Plea on Extension

The Supreme Court will hear a plea filed by the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and others seeking an extension of the deadline on Monday for filing claims in Bihar’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. The petitioners argued that many eligible voters have not been included in the draft list.

The Election Commission informed the court that 99.11 per cent of the 7.24 crore electors in the state have already submitted their documents for verification. The Supreme Court directed the poll authority to accept Aadhaar or any of 11 listed documents for inclusion.

Election Commission Seeks Court’s Faith

The Election Commission has urged the Supreme Court to repose faith in its ability to complete the Special Intensive Revision exercise in Bihar. Officials said the review process has been carried out systematically to ensure accuracy in the rolls.

The Commission also highlighted that almost all voters have verified their documents. The final voter list, once published, will serve as the basis for conducting free and fair elections in Bihar later this year. 

The Supreme Court is expected to take up the plea regarding extension of the claim period during its hearing on Monday.

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