Election Commission releases final voter list ahead of assembly polls

The Election Commission on Tuesday released the final voter list after Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in Bihar ahead of the assembly polls. The revised list has been made available on the official website of the poll panel. 

The assembly election in Bihar will be held using this electoral roll. The Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of Bihar has stated that physical copies of the roll will be distributed to all District Election Officers who also serve as District Magistrates. 

Besides, the final roll will be shared with all recognised national and state political parties.

Bihar SIR: 47 lakh ineligible electors removed

After the State Intensive Revision (SIR), over 47 lakh ineligible voters were removed from the electoral rolls. As of June 24, the voter list had 7.89 crore electors. Following the revision, 65 lakh ineligible voters were removed, reducing the total to 7.24 crore in the draft list published on August 1.

Subsequently, an additional 3.66 lakh ineligible voters were removed, while 21.53 lakh eligible voters were added. This brought the total number of eligible voters to 7.42 crore in the final list.

Patna administration shares revised list across 14 seats 

As per the revised list, the total number of electors stands at 48,15,294 across 14 assembly constituencies in Patna. This is 1,63,600 more than the total number of electors included in the draft list published on August 1, the district administration said.   

The exercise sparked a big controversy, with the Opposition accusing the Election Commission of tampering with the voter list to favor the BJP.

Multiple petitions were filed in the Supreme Court to halt the process. The top court, however, did not comply with the request but clarified that even after the final list is published, the process can still be canceled if any misconduct is found. The court emphasised that releasing the list does not protect it from legal challenges. 

The final hearing on the SIR process is scheduled for October 7.

EC team to review Bihar poll preparedness 

A team of Election Commission is set to visit Patna on October 4 and 5 to assess the readiness for the upcoming Bihar Assembly elections. Sources, cited by PTI, indicate that the official schedule for the elections will be announced next week.

The first phase of voting is expected to take place soon after the Chhath festival, likely in late October. To ensure smooth conduct, the Election Commission is deploying 470 observers across Bihar, including for some assembly by-polls.

On October 3, a briefing will be held for general, police and expenditure observers to prepare them for the task ahead. The current term of the 243-member Bihar Assembly expires on November 22.