According to the data shared by ECI, these 52.3 lakh cases — amounting to 6.62% of Bihar’s total 7.89 crore electors — fall under various categories, including deceased voters, permanently shifted individuals, duplicate enrollments, and those completely untraceable.
This review is part of a massive door-to-door verification exercise carried out by nearly 1 lakh Booth Level Officers (BLOs), supported by 4 lakh volunteers and 1.5 lakh Booth Level Agents (BLAs) appointed by the 12 major political parties in the state, according to information provided by the Election Commission.
Who have been flagged as missing or discrepant entries by ECI?
The ECI data provides the following detailed classification:
- Deceased electors: 18,66,869 (2.36%)
- Permanently shifted electors: 26,01,031 (3.29%)
- Electors enrolled at multiple places: 7,50,742 (0.95%)
- Electors not traceable: 11,484 (0.01%)
Political parties and officials join hands
Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), District Electoral Officers (DEOs), Electoral Registration Officers (EROs), and BLOs have already held meetings with party representatives. They have shared lists of two critical groups:
- The 21.36 lakh electors whose Enumeration Forms (EFs) have yet to be received.
- The 52.30 lakh electors flagged as deceased, permanently moved, duplicated, or untraceable.
The effort aims to clean the electoral rolls before the draft rolls are published on August 1, 2025, as per ECI. A public window will remain open from August 1 to September 1, 2025 for filing any objections, requesting deletions, or seeking corrections, the Election Commission said.
Bihar SIR 2025: Enumeration progress so far
As of June 24, 2025:
- Total Enumeration Forms received: 7.16 crore (90.67%)
- Forms digitised: 7.13 crore (90.37%)
- Total electors covered (verified + flagged): 7.68 crore (97.3%)
- Forms still pending: 21.35 lakh (2.7%)
Voter list revision sparks political storm ahead of Bihar Election 2025
As Bihar braces for a high-stakes assembly election later this year, ECI’s decision to carry out a SIR of the electoral roll has ignited intense political backlash. The EC maintains that the revision is constitutionally mandated and necessary to ensure accurate and inclusive voter rolls, but opposition parties have called the timing and method of the exercise “unconstitutional” and “anti-people.”
The INDIA bloc, a coalition of opposition parties including Congress, RJD, DMK, CPI, and others, has approached the Supreme Court, warning that the revision could disenfranchise lakhs of voters — particularly migrant workers and marginalised communities — due to the short timeline and lack of accessible documentation.
On the ground, tensions boiled over into street protests. The bloc organized a statewide Bihar Bandh on July 9, labelling the EC’s move as “Vote Bandi”, accusing the poll panel of carrying out a backdoor voter purge. The shutdown disrupted daily life across Bihar, with blockades, burnt tyres, and suspended transport services, especially in Patna and other major districts.
While the Supreme Court allowed the EC to proceed with the revision, it questioned the timing, coming just months before the assembly polls, and sought clarity on the kinds of documents being accepted. Petitioners have argued that commonly held IDs like Aadhaar, ration cards, and MGNREGA cards are being rejected — even though these are often the only proof possessed by many poor or landless citizens. Citing the 2011 Socio-Economic Caste Census, they highlighted that over 65% of rural households in Bihar own no land, making it harder to furnish property-linked documents.
Critics also point out that such a full-scale revision is unusual so close to elections. The last intensive revision in Bihar was conducted in 2002 — three years before the 2005 polls. By contrast, this 2025 exercise is being held just months ahead of the likely election date.
The EC has defended its approach, saying the revision is grounded in law and necessary to remove duplicate, deceased, or migrated entries while ensuring genuine voters are not left out. It clarified that no voter will be removed arbitrarily, and citizens can still file objections or submit documents after August 1, when the draft roll is released.
