Bihar Elections: State's Chief Electoral Office Eases Voter Verification Process

Amid worry over Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls in Bihar, the state's Chief Electoral Office (CEO) on Sunday made a major announcement that voters can get verified in the electoral rolls without submitting the requisite documents.

The office of the state CEO informed that voters can submit filled-out electoral forms without the necessary documents in case they not possess them. The documents can be submitted later, and booth-level officers (BLOs) will be uploading the filled-out and signed forms.

“If you (read voters) provide the required documents, it will be easier for the Electoral Registration Officer (ERO) to process the application. If you are unable to provide the required documents, the ERO can take a decision on the basis of local investigation or other documentary evidence,” the Election Commission (EC) stated in a front-page advertisement in all of the state's local newspapers on Sunday, according to The Hindu.

The announcement comes amidst much contention and protest by the Opposition leaders.

The advertisement’s next line mentioned that if the required documents and photo are not available, then filling the form and providing it to the BLO would do.

Aadhaar card, PAN card, MGNREGA job card, voter identity card, driving licence, and bank passbook are not acceptable for the SIR process.

The 11 documents being accepted are include birth certificates, passports, education certificates, permanent residence, forest rights, and caste certificates, the family register prepared by State and local authorities, land or house allotment certificates issued by the government, as well as documents issued to government employees or pensioners, and other documents issued by a range of public authorities before 1967.

A source in the office of Bihar CEO told The Hindu that the aforesaid 11 documents still exist and voters should not get confused.

The office of the CEO has issued directives to District Magistrates (DMs), stating, “All DMs, collect forms without documents; also ensure maximum forms are collected so that we can ensure maximum number of voters on draft publication. Documents can be collected afterwards. and uploaded through BLO dashboard (being developed ). Documents can be collected later and uploaded afterwards. Jo bhi forms baante hai bas enumeration forms filled upload kariye abhi with signature (for now, just upload the filled-out enumeration forms with signature). BLOs already know 90% of their voters, Apart from those who have passed away and permanent migration, upload all forms,” The Indian Express reported.

Bihar’s Chief Electoral Officer, on X posted that all measures are being taken to facilitate the existing electors to complete the documentation. These existing voters will have time to submit the documents even after first submitting their Enumeration Forms. All activities are exactly as per ECI’s order dated 24.06.2025.

Furthemore, it stated, “As per that order, the draft electoral rolls that will be issued on 1 August 2025 will contain the names of the existing electors whose enumeration forms are received.”

The opposition had called the SIR impractical and anti-democratic. They also demanded that Aadhar card, ration card and MGNREGA card be recognised in the list of documents accepted for verifications and revision of the voter list.