In next SIR phase, Election Commission to verify claims, objections

THe Election charge of bharat (ECI) on fri published the outline electoral rolls for Bihar after the ratiocination of the first phase of the controversial Special Intensive Revision (SIR), adding that the next month will be devoted to the verification of the claims and objections process.The publication of the draft rolls marks the end of the enumeration phase of the SIR, which required all existing electors in Bihar to submit forms and documents.The controversial exercise began on June 25 in Bihar, where assembly elections are scheduled to be held later this year. ECI has said it will hold SIR across the country.Also Read | Parliament logjam continues as Opposition parties push for SIR debateECI said from August 1 to September 1 will be the time of claims and objections. “During this period, to add the name of any eligible elector or to delete the name of any ineligible elector, any elector or any political party, can file claims and objections in a prescribed form before the concerned ERO,” the body said.“All eligible electors are appealed to check their names in the draft list, and if their name does not exist in the list, they should fill and submit Form 6 along with the declaration form,” the body added.Separately in Patna, the body published district-wise data, comparing it to the electoral roll before SIR. It showed Patna district saw the highest deletion of 395,500 voters, followed by Madhubani district (352,545), East Champaran district (316,793) and Gopalganj district (310,363).Also Read | EC publishes draft electoral rolls for Bihar after SIR amid protest by OppnECI said of the 6.5 million names missing from the rolls, deaths accounted for 2.2 million, people who permanently shifted or not found accounted for 3.6 million and people enrolled in multiple places accounted for 700,000.In all, the draft electoral roll shrunk from 78.9 million to 72.3 million, ECI said. Following the conclusion of the first phase of the SIR, the poll body, on July 27, it had received 72.3 million forms out of 78.9 million electors.“The draft list is available at the ECI portal. Also, booth-wise draft lists of all the 90,712 polling booths of all 243 assembly constituencies have been shared with all the political parties by 38 DEOs of Bihar, today on 1 August,” ECI said.The SIR 2025 is the first such intensive revision in Bihar since 2003. As part of this exercise, all electors, including those already registered, were asked to fill out fresh enumeration forms. The deadline for submission was July 26.ECI clarified that the deletions were not final and will be subject to scrutiny during the claims and objections period.“The exact status of these electors will be known after scrutiny of these forms by ERO/AERO by August 1, 2025. However, genuine electors can still be added back in electoral rolls during the claims and objections period from August 1 to September 1, 2025. The names of the electors found enrolled at multiple places in the electoral rolls will be retained only at one place,” it had said on July 27.ECI specified that the deletion of any name cannot be done without providing the concerned elector an opportunity to be heard. “As per SIR orders, no name can be deleted from the draft electoral roll, by the concerned ERO/AERO without giving a hearing to the elector and subsequently passing a written order, which are appealable to the DM and the CEO,” the body said.A letter issued by the district election officers to all recognised political parties on Friday further instructed party representatives to assist in verifying the draft rolls and submitting claims and objections – form 6 for new registrations, form 7 for deletions, and form 8 for corrections or transfers.ECI said that special camps will be held daily from August 2 to September 1 at all block-cum-subdivision offices and urban local body offices (municipal corporation, municipality, nagar panchayat).The second phase of SIR will be conducted from August 1 to September 1. During this period, electors, political parties, and officials may submit and verify claims and objections. Officials will collect pending documents and scrutinise those already submitted. All claims and objections are to be disposed of by September 25. The final electoral roll is scheduled to be published on September 30.