Bihar voter roll meet with ECI cancelled

New Delhi

A scheduled meeting between the INDIA Bloc and the Election Commission of India (ECI) regarding Bihar’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls will not take place on Wednesday, as no confirmation was received from the political parties, ECI sources said on Tuesday. Though a legal counsel representing multiple parties had sought an urgent meeting on July 2, the parties didn’t confirm the appointment, leading to its postponement.

The ECI had launched the SIR exercise last month to verify voter eligibility ahead of the Bihar Assembly elections later this year. To strengthen the process, 20,603 additional Booth Level Officers (BLOs) have been appointed, bringing the total to 77,895. Over one lakh volunteers have also been mobilised to support vulnerable groups like the elderly, disabled, and economically weak.

Political parties have appointed 1.54 lakh Booth Level Agents (BLAs) and can appoint more as needed. Enumeration Forms (EFs) are being distributed door-to-door and are available online for the 7.89 crore registered voters across Bihar’s 243 Assembly seats.

The ECI has uploaded the 2003 Electoral Roll on its website for easy access. Around 4.96 crore voters registered as of January 1, 2003, only need to verify and submit their forms without providing new documents. The revision process is being monitored by District Magistrates and Divisional Commissioners. The ECI is also using SMS outreach to contact over 5.74 crore voters.