Became electors in other States, did not submit form on time: ECI explains 65 lakh gap in draft voter list in Bihar

Giving the reasoning behind the gap between the forms distributed and collected, the ECI stated, "BLO did not find these electors or did not get back their Enumeration Forms because they: Became electors in other States/UTs, or were not found in existence, or did not submit the form till 25 July, or were not willing to register as an elector for some reason or other (Para iv of Enumeration Form at Page 17 of SIR order refers)."

The ECI released the cumulative data for the forms distributed, downloaded, collected, and digitised. The press release also shared the graphical data for the Enumeration Forms distributed, collected and digitised daily.

According to ECI's graph, the gap of 65 lakh electors is attributed to 22 lakh deceased individuals, 36 lakh who have either permanently shifted from Bihar or were not found, and the remaining 7 lakh who were enrolled in multiple places.

According to the press note, the objective of SIR is to ensure that no eligible elector is left behind and no ineligible elector gets included. Any genuine electors can still be added back in the electoral rolls during the Claims and Objections period from 1st August to 1st September 2025.

Earlier today, ECI reiterated that no claim or objection has been submitted by any political party regarding the draft electoral rolls in Bihar.

It has been over a week since the EC asked to submit claims and objections to rectify any errors in the draft electoral roll of Bihar, which was published on August 1.

The Election Commission has been repeatedly asserting that no eligible elector will be left out and no ineligible elector will be included in the final electoral roll of Bihar.

However, the EC has received 6,257 claims and objections directly from the electors with respect to the draft roll till today, said the ECI in a daily bulletin on the special intensive revision (SIR) of the electoral roll in Bihar. (ANI)