Bihar: Volunteers being trained to aid voters file appeals against EROs' decisions

New Delhi: Volunteers are being trained to help voters file appeals aggrieved with decisions of Electoral Registration Officers and a standard format will be circulated to allow them to submit it easily, the Election Commission said on Sunday, as it prepared to publish the draft electoral rolls on August 1 following the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise.

The EC also said there was “overwhelming participation” during the SIR, with 7.24 crore of 7.89 crore submitting enumeration forms while announcing special campaigns to enroll youth in Bihar electoral rolls parallel to the scrutiny of draft voters' list.

While around 65-66 lakh voters have not submitted their forms and are unlikely to be added in the draft roll, the EC said genuine electors can be added back in electoral rolls during the claims and objection period between August 1 and September 1.

Of the around seven lakh voters who are found to be enrolled at two places, it said such electors will be retained at only one place.

In its statement, the EC said no name can be deleted from the draft list without notice and speaking order of the Electoral Registration Officer (ERO) or Assistant ERO.

Any voter aggrieved by any decision of the ERO can appeal to the District Magistrate and the Chief Electoral Officer. Volunteers are also being trained in helping people to file appeals against any decision of ERO, it said.

“A standard format for filing appeals is also being devised and will be widely circulated to allow people to file appeals easily,” it said.

The EC said young electors, who have attained 18 years of age on 1 July, 2025, or would be attaining 18 years on or before 1 October, 2025, are being encouraged to file their application in Form 6, along with the prescribed Declaration Form.

It said the EC would conduct special campaigns across Bihar from August 1 to September 1 to enroll such young electors, so that all eligible electors can be enrolled and no one is left out.

On publicising SIR, the EC said text messages explaining the SIR process were sent to 5.7 crore registered mobile numbers of voters.

An All-India full page advertisement in Hindi, was issued in 246 newspapers having a circulation of nearly 2.60 crore aiming at creating awareness amongst migrants from Bihar living across the country.

It said around 16 lakh migrant workers filled their enumeration forms online while another 13 lakh had downloaded the forms.

Special camps were set up in all the 5,683 wards of all 261 urban local bodies (ULBs) of Bihar so that no urban elector is left out.

Electors whose Enumeration Forms were received were sent repeat SMSs, as an acknowledgment of submission of their form. A total of 10.2 crore SMSs have been sent since the beginning of the exercise, it said.