Over 35 lakh voters in Bihar either dead, shifted out, or enrolled elsewhere, Special Intensive Revision shows

This number could rise as 11.82% or 93.34 lakh of 7.89 crore voters in the existing voters’ list are yet to submit their Enumeration Forms for which the deadline is 11 days away on July 25.

New Delhi: At least 35.68 lakh voters in poll-bound Bihar are either dead or have permanently shifted out or are enrolled in more than one place, the data from the Booth Level Officers (BLOs) conducting Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls have shown.

This number could rise as 11.82 per cent or 93.34 lakh of 7.89 crore voters in the existing voters’ list are yet to submit their Enumeration Forms for which the deadline is 11 days away on July 25. The EC said all those who have submitted their Enumeration Forms will find their name in the draft electoral rolls.

According to an Election Commission statement, Enumeration Forms of 6.60 crore or 83.66 per cent of 7.89 crore voters have been collected so far during the two rounds of door-to-door visits by BLOs since the start of the SIR on June 25, the first in the state after 2003 that has attracted criticism from the Opposition.

Besides, the EC said, 1.59 per cent electors have been found deceased, 2.2 per cent permanently shifted and 0.73 per cent persons were found to be enrolled at more than one place.

This would mean around 12.55 lakh voters are dead, 17.37 lakh voters have permanently shifted out of Bihar and another 5.76 lakh voters are enrolled in more than one place, which is illegal as per law.

It said, “therefore, 88.18 per cent of electors have either already submitted their Enumeration Forms or died or retained their names at one place or permanently shifted out of their previous place of residence. Only 11.82 per cent of electors now remain to submit their filled EFs and many of them have sought time to submit their Enumeration Forms with documents in the coming days.”

For the voters who may have temporarily migrated out of Bihar, the EC said focused efforts through newspaper advertisements and direct contact with such electors are being made to ensure that they are able to fill their Enumeration Forms well in time and have their names also included in the Draft electoral rolls to be published on August 1.

"Such electors can easily fill up EFs online using their mobile phones through the ECINet App or through the online form on https://voters.eci.gov.in. They can also send their forms to the concerned BLOs through their family members or through any online means, including WhatsApp or similar applications," it added.

The EC said it is leaving no stone unturned to ensure that no eligible voter is left out and the remaining electors fill their EFs. Nearly one lakh BLOs will soon begin their third round of door-to-door visits.

To ensure that no eligible urban voter is left out the ER, special camps are also being set up in all the 5,683 wards of all 261 Urban Local Bodies of Bihar.

In a major push towards use of latest technology and digitisation, the newly launched ECINet platform has also been deployed for all aspects of the Bihar SIR exercise.

The ECINet is also accelerating the process of updation of forms and documents for the field level election functionaries resulting in the uploading of over 5.74 crore Enumeration Forms as at 6.00 PM on Monday. The document review module of ECINet has also quickened the pace of verification of eligibility of the electors by the AEROs, EROs and DEOs in a streamlined manner, the statement said.