The Election Commission is set to publish the draft electoral rolls for Bihar on August 1, 2025, a move that comes amidst controversy and protests from opposition parties. Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar announced that both physical and digital copies of the draft rolls will be provided to all recognized political parties in Bihar's 38 districts by the District Election Officers (DEOs).

This publication follows the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls conducted in Bihar from June 24 to July 25, 2025. According to the Election Commission, over 7.24 crore electors submitted their enumeration forms out of 7.89 crore registered voters, marking a 91.69% participation rate.

The CEC has invited all electors and recognized political parties to submit claims and objections from August 1 to September 1, 2025. This period allows for the addition of names of eligible citizens who may have been missed, removal of ineligible names, and correction of any entries in the draft rolls. The Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of Bihar and 243 Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) will oversee this process.

The SIR process is being conducted in three phases. The first phase, involving counting, took place from June 24 to July 25, 2025. The second phase, from August 1 to September 1, allows voters and parties to submit corrections. In the third phase, lasting until September 25, all Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) will review and resolve these claims and objections.

The Election Commission has outlined several objectives for the SIR process, including ensuring full participation from voters and political parties, guaranteeing that no eligible voter in Bihar is left off the list, including temporary migrants, urban residents, and young voters, and maintaining continuous communication with voters and political parties. The commission will also conduct special campaigns across Bihar from August 1 to September 1 to enroll young electors.

However, the SIR has faced opposition, with parties alleging that the revision may disenfranchise eligible voters due to a lack of documents and unfairly target those opposed to the ruling alliance. These parties have also labeled it as a "National Register of Citizens (NRC) through the backdoor". Protests against the SIR have disrupted both houses of Parliament during the Monsoon session.

The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear a batch of pleas challenging the Election Commission's move to conduct SIR of electoral rolls in Bihar on August 12 and 13. The court has stated that it will intervene if there is any mass exclusion of voters.