Bihar Draft Roll: After SC Direction, EC Says Aggrieved Persons Can Submit Aadhaar Copy

Poll panel makes public names of 65 lakh people deleted from voter list

PTI, NEW DELHI, AUG 18, 2025 :  The Election Commission (EC) on Monday said people who have been left out of Bihar's draft voter list can submit a copy of their Aadhaar to include their name in the electoral roll, after the Supreme Court directed the poll authority to accept the card as proof of identity.

In a statement, the Election Commission said according to rules, the claims and objections are to be disposed of by the concerned electoral registration officer not before the expiry of seven days after the verification of eligibility documents. It also underlined that according to Special Intensive Revision (SIR) orders, no name can be deleted from the draft list published on August 1 without passing a speaking order by the electoral registration officer (ERO) after conducting an enquiry and after giving a fair and reasonable opportunity.

The list of 65 lakh people excluded from the draft list is available on the websites of the district magistrates of Bihar. "Aggrieved persons may submit their claims along with a copy of their Aadhaar card," the poll panel said.

The Election Commission (EC) on Monday came out with the names of 65 lakh people who were removed from the draft electoral rolls published as part of the special intensive revision (SIR) exercise, officials said. The development came after the Supreme Court directed the poll panel to publish the deleted names by August 19 and file a compliance report by August 22.

The EC is publishing the names of 'ASD' (Absentee, Shifted, and Dead) voters across polling booths, and is likely to do so online as has been directed by the apex court, they said. According to the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), Bihar, ASD lists have been displayed at polling booths in Rohtas, Begusarai, Arwal, Siwan, Bhojpur and other places.

The Supreme Court, in an order on August 14, directed the Election Commission to publish an enumerated, booth-wise list of around 65 lakh electors not included in the draft electoral roll, published on August 1, during the ongoing SIR exercise in Bihar, where Assembly elections are due later this year.

More than 65 lakh enumeration forms were 'not included' in the draft electoral rolls prepared as part of the first phase of SIR by the EC in Bihar, bringing down the total number of around 7.9 crore registered voters to 7.24 crore.