The Election Commission of India (ECI) has released the draft electoral roll for Bihar following the completion of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) 2025. The draft electoral roll, published on August 1, 2025, indicates a decrease in the number of registered voters in the state. According to the draft, Bihar now has 7.24 crore voters, a notable decrease from the 7.9 crore registered voters before the SIR exercise.

The SIR was conducted to ensure an accurate and up-to-date electoral roll ahead of the upcoming Bihar Assembly Elections, scheduled around October–November this year. The last intensive revision for Bihar was conducted in 2003. The month-long SIR exercise involved enumeration and verification of voters across all 243 assembly constituencies and 90,712 polling booths in the state.

The decrease in the number of voters is attributed to several factors, including deceased voters, permanently shifted or untraceable voters, and duplicate registrations. Officials identified approximately 22 lakh deceased electors, 7 lakh duplicate entries, and 35 lakh voters who have either migrated permanently or were untraceable.

While the ECI has not released a compiled list, booth-wise draft lists have been shared with all political parties by the 38 District Election Officers (DEOs) of Bihar. The draft list is also available on the ECI portal. Voters can check their names on the ECI’s website to ensure they are included in the list.

The publication of the draft electoral rolls marks the beginning of the "claims and objections" phase, which will continue until September 1, 2025. During this period, voters can file claims for inclusions or objections for deletions in the electoral roll. The ECI has clarified that no name can be deleted from the draft electoral roll without giving the elector a hearing and a written order. Any elector dissatisfied with the decision can appeal to the District Magistrate or the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of Bihar.

To facilitate the process, the ECI has provided various channels for submitting claims and objections: * Online through the ECI Voter Portal * ECINet mobile application * Submitting a printed form to the Booth Level Officer (BLO) * Submitting the form through WhatsApp or a family member * Visiting the Electoral Registration Officer (ERO) or Assistant ERO (AERO) of the constituency

The SIR exercise and the subsequent draft electoral roll have faced criticism and protests from opposition parties, who allege possible large-scale deletions of voters. They raised concerns in Parliament, demanding a discussion on the issue. The opposition has claimed that the exclusions disproportionately affect certain communities and may favor the ruling NDA.

The ECI maintains that the SIR exercise aims to create a transparent and accurate electoral roll. The commission has appealed to all eligible voters to check their names in the draft list and submit Form 6 if their names are missing, along with the declaration form specified in the SIR instructions. The final electoral rolls will be published after reviewing all submissions and resolving claims and objections.