As part of the ongoing Special Intensive Revision of the electoral roll in Bihar, three-quarters of the voters have submitted their enumeration forms. Meanwhile, a hearing was held in the Supreme Court regarding a petition filed about the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the voter list. Petitioners protested against the exclusion of the Aadhaar card from the list of documents required by the Election Commission during the revision.
How fair is it to ask everyone for documents? — A sharp question from the Supreme Court's Justice to the Election Commission
During the hearing, Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia of the Supreme Court made significant remarks about the list of documents requested for the Special Intensive Revision ahead of the upcoming assembly elections in Bihar. He stated, 'In a country where people do not have basic documents, how can everyone be asked for all of them? I don't have a birth certificate either.'
What documents is the Election Commission asking for?
The form issued by the Election Commission includes a 'suggestive but not exhaustive' list. Its purpose is to certify an individual's date of birth, place of birth, and residence.
The form already includes the voter's EPIC number (Voter ID) printed on it, with a separate place provided to enter the Aadhaar number.
This makes it clear that while Aadhaar and Voter ID are considered essential identity documents, additional documents are still being requested from people.
The Supreme Court was told by senior advocates that the Election Commission's demand for additional documents could pose a threat to the poor and those living in remote areas, migrant laborers, and people who lost everything due to recent floods.
A clean voter list is essential for strengthening democracy — Election Commission's stand
The Election Commission maintains that voter verification in Bihar is necessary to ensure a clean voter list and strengthen democracy. Documents are crucial to confirm the identity of genuine voters.
So far, three-quarters of voters have submitted their enumeration forms
In Bihar, so far, three-quarters of the voters have submitted their enumeration forms. This means that out of every four voters, three have already submitted their forms. According to the Election Commission, 74.39 percent of the enumeration forms have been collected so far.
With 14 days remaining before the final submission date, over 74 percent of the 78,969,844 voters in Bihar, or about 79 million, have already submitted their forms. In the second phase of SIR, BLOs are supporting voters door-to-door, collecting their filled enumeration forms. All 243 assembly constituencies' 38 district election officers, Election Registration Officers (EROs), and 963 Assistant Election Registration Officers (AEROs), including field-level officers, are regularly monitoring the progress of the SIR.
The digitization and uploading of enumeration forms are running smoothly. In accordance with paragraph 3(H) of the SIR guidelines, BLOs have successfully digitized and uploaded 3.73 crore enumeration forms through the BLO app/eciNET from the total collected so far. A new module was implemented today in ecinet eciNET for verification of forms uploaded by AERO/ERO.
By 6 PM on Friday, 5,87,49,463 enumeration forms, accounting for 74.39 percent of the total forms, have been submitted. Since the SIR directives were issued on June 24, 2025, by the commission, these many forms have been collected in the past 17 days. Enumeration forms can be submitted until July 25, 2025.
In this drive, 77,895 BLOs, 20,603 newly appointed BLOs, and other election officers are working tirelessly to complete this task on time. Over 400,000 volunteers, along with 1,56,000 booth-level agents (BLAs) appointed by all recognized political parties, are helping the elderly, disabled, sick, and vulnerable populations, resulting in the collection of 74.39 percent enumeration forms.
