Patna/New Delhi: The Election Commission of India (ECI) published the final electoral roll for Bihar’s 2025 elections, which reveals a reduction of 6% in the total voter list. Bihar’s total number of registered voters is now 7.42 crore, which has decreased from 7.89 crore as of June 24, the day the ECI began the Special Intensive Revision (SIR).
99% of Deletions from the Electoral Roll Were Not Related to Citizenship
While the ECI advertised a citizenship verification exercise, the data show that 99% of those deleted were not due to citizenship. As per the Bihar CEO office:
• 22 lakh were deleted as deceased.
• 36 lakh were deleted due to permanent migration or absence.
• 7 lakh were deleted for being duplicated (registered somewhere else).
• Only a very small number, if not none, were due to foreigners or non-citizens.
This raises serious questions about the nature and rationale of the ECI’s decision to require double documentation — the claim of citizenship verification was almost entirely irrelevant to the final roll.
What Has Changed in the Bihar Voter List?
– During the SIR for three months:
– 68.6 lakh names were removed (65 lakh in the draft roll, 3.66 lakh in objection).
– Additions of 21.53 lakh new electors.
– A drop in women’s share of voters from 47.75% in January to 47.15% post-revision.
What made the Special Intensive Revision controversial?
The SIR was not the routine annual summary revision; it was a requirement for all voters to resubmit documents to prove age, residence, and in many cases, citizenship eligibility. The ECI gave reasons such as :
– Rapid urbanisation and migration.
– Large numbers of young citizens becoming eligible.
– Deaths not being reported.
– Concerns about “illegal immigrants” on the voter lists.
Opposition parties, on the other hand, condemned the exercise and called it a “citizenship check in disguise” that could disenfranchise lakhs of the informal genuine voters.
Role of the Supreme Court
There were petitions filed in the Supreme Court challenging the ECI’s role in calling for documentation of citizenship (proof of citizenship) from voters who are already registered. The Court did not stay the SIR, but instead stated that Aadhaar would be accepted as the 12th valid document of verification, making the process a bit easier.
What will come of the revision of the voter list across the country?
The ECI previously announced plans to implement SIR across India, beginning with Bihar because the state is scheduled for Assembly elections in November 2025. Based on how things go in Bihar, the poll panel will assess the ability to ensure everyone has a chance to be addressed before instituting similar rollouts across the nation.
The Commission declared that the revision would be done pursuant to Article 326 of the Constitution, saying additionally, “No eligible voter to be left out, and no ineligible voter to be included.
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