Daijiworld Media Network - New Delhi
New Delhi, Jul 23: The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Wednesday announced significant progress in Bihar’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, revealing that 98.01% of voters in the state have already been covered under the ongoing verification exercise.
According to data released by the Commission, the massive clean-up drive uncovered 20 lakh deceased voters, 28 lakh permanent out-migrants, 7 lakh duplicate registrations, and nearly 1 lakh untraceable electors. These figures underline the scale of inaccuracies the SIR aims to correct.
The ECI also reported that it has received and digitised 7.17 crore Enumeration Forms, representing 90.89% of Bihar’s electorate. However, 15 lakh forms remain unreturned, prompting further outreach.
To aid transparency, the ECI said it shared the lists of suspect or unverified electors with around 1.5 lakh Booth Level Agents (BLAs) of 12 major political parties on July 20. These agents, appointed by district-level party presidents, are expected to help verify and correct voter information at the booth level.
For electors temporarily residing outside Bihar and not enrolled elsewhere, the Commission has provided multiple avenues to submit forms — through the https://electors.eci.gov.in portal, the ECINet mobile app, or via signed printed forms submitted through family members or WhatsApp to their local Booth Level Officer (BLO).
Voters who submitted their Enumeration Forms will see their names in the Draft Electoral Roll to be published on August 1, which marks the close of SIR Phase 1. Electors can track their application status online using the form tracker at: https://electors.eci.gov.in/home/enumFormTrack .
The ECI has also sent SMS alerts to voters who provided mobile numbers, keeping them informed about the verification status.
In the event of errors or omissions in the draft roll, both voters and political parties can file objections or claims with their Electoral Registration Officer (ERO) or Assistant ERO (AERO) until September 1.
Calling upon all citizens to actively verify their electoral information, the Commission emphasized that an accurate and updated voter list is essential to safeguarding Bihar’s democratic process. The final electoral roll will be instrumental in upcoming elections.