Bihar electoral roll revision: Over 74% voters have submitted enumeration forms, says EC

The Election Commission on Friday announced that 74.39% out of the 7,89,69,844 electors in Bihar have submitted their enumeration forms as part of the ongoing special intensive revision of the state’s electoral rolls.

The poll panel said that 5,87,49,463 enumeration forms have been collected till 6 pm on Friday. Of these, booth-level officers have successfully digitised and uploaded 3.73 crore forms on the commission’s ECINET mobile application, it added.

In the second phase of the revision process, booth-level officers are going from house to house to help voters and collect their filled enumeration forms, the Election Commission said, adding that over 4 lakh volunteers were providing support to senior citizens, persons with disabilities, those living with diseases and vulnerable groups.

The Election Commission has set July 25 as the last date to submit enumeration forms.

The Election Commission’s statement came a day after the Supreme Court urged it to consider Aadhaar cards, voter ID cards and ration cards as valid documents for the revision of electoral rolls. The court will hear the case further on July 28.

The revision of the electoral rolls in Bihar was announced by the Election Commission on June 24.

As part of the exercise, persons whose names were not on the 2003 voter list will need to submit proof of eligibility to vote. This means that 2.9 crore out of the state’s 7.8 crore voters – or about 37% of the electors – will have to submit documentary evidence.

Voters born before July 1, 1987, must show proof of their date and place of birth, while those born between July 1, 1987, and December 2, 2004, must also submit documents establishing the date and place of birth of one of their parents. Those born after December 2, 2004, will need proof of date of birth for themselves and both parents.

If the officers are satisfied with the details provided, the voters will be re-enrolled to a new voter list by electoral registration officers. If not, they will be removed from the voter lists.

A draft roll will be published on August 1 and the final roll will be out on September 30.

On July 2, eleven INDIA bloc parties told the Election Commission that the special intensive revision of Bihar’s electoral rolls risked disenfranchising more than 2.5 crore voters, as they may not be able to produce the necessary documents.

Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar on July 6 defended the exercise, claiming that the exercise had to be carried out as no one was satisfied with the current voter rolls.

Also read:

• The curious case of a missing Election Commission order on 2003 voter list revision in Bihar
• ‘Need a civil disobedience movement against EC’: TMC MP Mahua Moitra on Bihar voter roll revision
• Bihar voter roll revision: Why having to prove you are an Indian citizen is a nightmare
• Why EC move to create new Bihar voter list has rung the ‘NRC’ alarm bell