The Election Commission of India (ECI) said on Sunday (24th August) that it has received documents of 98.2% voters, while 8 more days are left till the deadline of the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in Bihar.
In its statement, the ECI praised the efforts of the Chief Electoral Officer, District Election Officers, Electoral Registration Officers, and Assistant Electoral Registration Officers and lakhs of volunteers in the state in the humongous exercise. “The Election Commission of India commends the ongoing efforts by the CEO of Bihar, DEOs of all 38 Districts, 243 EROs, 2,976 AEROs, 90,712 BLOs, lakhs of volunteers and involvement of the field representatives of all the 12 major political parties, including their District Presidents and as many as 1.60 lakh BLAs appointed by them,” said the ECI statement.
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Verification of documents of voters likely to be completed ahead of time
The ECI said that between June 24, 2025 and August 24, 2025, i.e. in 60 days, 98.2 % electors submitted their documents, and therefore, just like the collection of the Enumeration Forms was completed before time, the work related to the collection of documents is also likely to be completed ahead of time. “This means an average of about 1.64 % per day. There are still 8 days to go till 1 September, with just 1.8 % Electors remaining for submission of the documents,” the poll body stated.
The Enumeration phase, which was the first phase of the exercise, commenced on June 24, 2025 and ended on July 25, 2025. This was followed by the publication of draft Electoral Rolls on August 1, 2025. The period of submitting claims, objections and documents started on August 1, 2025 and will continue till September 1, 2025. The verification of documents will go on till September 24, 2025. And lastly, after the final checking of the documents, the final Electoral Rolls will be published on September 30, 2025.
The ECI explained that the period of submitting claims and objections provides an opportunity to the voters for the correction of any mistakes in the Electoral Roll. Besides, voters can submit their necessary documents, which they might have failed to furnish at the time of submitting their Enumeration Forms.
Over 3 lakh young voters to be enrolled this time
The Block Level Officers (BLOs) and volunteers are currently engaged in the collection of documents. Concurrently, the verification of the collected documents is being conducted by the EROs and the AEROs. According to the ECI statement, out of a total of 7.24 crore voters in the draft rolls, 0.16% have submitted Claims and Objections so far, of which 10 have been submitted by the Booth Level Agents (BLAs) of 12 recognised political parties in Bihar and 1,21,143 by Electors within their Assembly Constituency. Over 3 lakh (3,28,847 precisely) young voters, who have attained the age of 18 years and above on 1 July or will attain the age of 18 years and above on 1 October, have also submitted their Enumeration Forms and Declaration.
The SIR is a routine exercise conducted by the Election Commission to update the Electoral Rolls and remove bogus, deceased or ineligible voters to ensure fair elections. But the opposition parties have been vehemently opposing the SIR in Bihar, alleging that this was the ruling BJP’s conspiracy to disenfranchise their voter base. Several opposition leaders and some so-called social organisations moved the Supreme Court to stop the constitutionally-backed exercise. To their disappointment, the top court refused to stay the exercise, citing the ECI’s competence to conduct it.
