Bihar Election 2025: ECI’s SIR Exercise Triggers Voter Exclusion Fears
BIHAR, INDIA, JUL 5 – The Election Commission requires 2.93 crore voters to submit documents amid concerns of disenfranchisement and legal challenges ahead of Bihar's 2025 Assembly polls.
- On June 24, the Election Commission of India announced a Special Intensive Revision of Bihar's electoral rolls, four months before the Assembly elections.
- The announcement of Bihar's SIR was driven by concerns over illegal immigrants, migration, and the need to update voter rolls, prompting the exercise.
- Rahul Shastri estimates 4.96 crore Bihar voters from 2003 must submit forms, with 2.93 crore needing documents and 1.76 crore having migrated since then.
- Opposition parties and civil rights groups challenge the voter list revision, citing risks of disenfranchisement and constitutional breaches, leading to legal petitions and protests.
- By July 25, voters must submit forms or fill applications without documents; final electoral rolls will be published by September 30 amid ongoing uncertainties.
25 Articles
25 Articles
Supreme Court Speeds Up Deliberation on SIR Controversy in Bihar
India’s apex body of justice, the Supreme Court, has arranged for an expedited session to deliberate on the petitions contesting the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in Bihar. The hearing is slated for July 10, 2025. As part of the SIR, nearly 2.93 crore voters in Bihar are obliged to present documents that verify the date and location of their birth, and if born post-1987, they’re also required to show proof of their parents’ birth details. The…
Bihar voter list controversy: Election Commission eases rules, voter forms can be submitted without documents
As Bihar prepares for its upcoming assembly elections, the state is embroiled in a controversy regarding the voter list. The issue revolves around the extensive revision of the voter list, and the Election Commission has now provided a significant relief to voters by relaxing its rules. Voters in Bihar will now be able to submit their forms without the need for supporting documents. Election Commission eases submission rules In the face of grow…
The Election Commission's clarification came after confusion spread on social media over an advertisement published in a newspaper which said that 'now only form has to be filled, no need to submit documents'. On this, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge posted on X and alleged that this entire process is a conspiracy of the BJP-RSS to snatch the voting rights of Dalits and the underprivileged.
Poll body eases voter list rules in Bihar, documents can be submitted later
In a major relief to several voters in Bihar, the Election Commission of India clarified that even if the necessary documents and photos are not available, the enumeration form can be filled out and submitted to the Booth Level Officer.
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