The Election Commission has released the first draft of the revised voter list under the SIR process in Bihar. People can check their names on the ECI website from August 1st and raise objections until September 1st.
Bihar SIR: The Election Commission released the first draft of the revised voter list in Bihar on Thursday under the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process. Under this process, the District Election Officers (DEOs) in all 38 districts of the state handed over the physical and digital copies of the draft voter list to all recognized political parties.
In addition to this, from 3 PM onwards, general citizens can also visit the Election Commission's website https://voters.eci.gov.in/download to check whether their name is on the list or not. Those whose names are not on this draft list can register their objection or claim between August 1st and September 1st.
6.5 Million Names Missing from Draft, Know Why?
Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar informed that under the SIR process that started in Bihar on June 24th, 7.24 crore people out of 7.89 crore voters have submitted their calculation forms. This means that the names of approximately 6.5 million voters are not included in this draft list.
The Election Commission said that the main reasons for removing names from the list are:
- Death of the voter
- Permanent transfer
- Having a name registered in more than one place
What Should People Do Whose Names Are Not in the Draft?
The Election Commission has stated that people whose names are not on the draft list can apply to have their names added by filling out Form 6. This process will run from August 1st to September 1st, 2025. During this period, all eligible citizens can register claims and objections to add, remove, and correct information.
These claims and objections can be submitted to the Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) of all 243 assembly constituencies.
Special Campaign for Young Voters
The Election Commission clarified that young people who have completed 18 years of age on July 1, 2025, or will complete it by October 1, 2025, can also register their names in the voter list by filling out Form 6. For this, the Commission is going to conduct a special registration campaign throughout Bihar from August 1st to September 1st. The aim is to ensure that no eligible citizen is deprived of the voter list.
SIR Process Starts from Bihar, Further Expansion Across the Country
According to the Election Commission's order issued on June 24, this Special Intensive Revision process has been started from Bihar and will be implemented in other states of the country in the future. Opposition parties have raised objections to this decision and described this process as an attempt to implement the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in a hidden manner.
Protest Against SIR in Parliament, Proceedings Adjourned
There was a lot of uproar in both houses of Parliament on Friday regarding the SIR process. MPs from opposition parties included in the INDIA bloc protested in the Parliament premises at 10:30 am.
Leaders from Congress, DMK, RJD and other parties held placards and posters and described this step of the Election Commission as an attack on democracy. In protest, the MPs shouted slogans – "SIR is an attack on democracy".
Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla appealed to the opposition MPs to maintain peace but the uproar was not stopping, due to which the proceedings of the Lok Sabha were adjourned till 2 pm.
Opposition Allegation: "This is Theft of Votes"
The opposition claims that this entire process is being implemented without the information of the public and in a hurry. They fear that millions of eligible voters may be excluded from the voter list.
Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi, DMK's A. Raja and RJD's Misa Bharti said that this process is an attack on the basic structure of democracy and there should be a serious discussion on this in the Parliament.
When Will the Final Voter List Be Released?
According to the Election Commission, the final phase of the SIR process in Bihar will end on September 30, 2025. On that day, the final voter list will be published. In this, after reviewing all the claims and objections, the names will be finalized.
