New Delhi, August 8, 2025: The Election Commission of India (ECI) has addressed concerns over the nearly 65 lakh gap in Bihar’s draft voter list revealed during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process. In a press release issued on Friday, the Commission explained that Enumeration Forms were collected for 7.24 crore electors out of approximately eight crore forms that had been distributed or downloaded across the state.
According to the ECI, the discrepancy arose because many individuals had either shifted to other states or Union Territories, were found to be deceased, did not return their forms before the July 25 deadline, or were unwilling to register as voters for unspecified reasons. Data shared by the Commission attributes the gap to 22 lakh deceased persons, 36 lakh electors who had either permanently relocated or could not be traced, and another 7 lakh names found to be enrolled in multiple locations.
The Commission emphasised that the primary objective of the SIR exercise is to ensure that no eligible voter is left out of the rolls and no ineligible name is included. It further assured that genuine voters still have the opportunity to be added during the Claims and Objections period, which runs from August 1 to September 1, 2025.
The ECI noted that no political party has submitted any claims or objections regarding the draft electoral rolls, which were published on August 1. However, it has received 6,257 claims and objections directly from individual voters so far. Reaffirming its commitment to a fair and accurate electoral roll, the Commission stated that the final list will reflect the most up-to-date and verified voter information for Bihar.
