NEW DELHI: The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Friday released the draft electoral roll in Bihar, prepared under the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process, amid strong Opposition from political parties. With the draft list now available on the ECI website, Opposition parties have begun reviewing the data to identify discrepancies and determine how many genuine voters may have been disenfranchised. The ECI stated that this marks the first phase, the Enumeration Phase, of SIR in Bihar. Booth-wise draft lists from all 90,712 polling booths across the 243 Assembly constituencies have been shared with political parties by the 38 District Election Officers (DEOs) of Bihar. The Commission emphasised that, under SIR guidelines, no name can be deleted from the draft electoral roll by the concerned Electoral Registration Officer (ERO) or Assistant Electoral Registration Officer (AERO) without giving the elector a hearing and subsequently issuing a written order. Such decisions are subject to appeal before the District Magistrate (DM) and the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO). The ECI described the exercise as a “stellar example of unparalleled, transparent, and impartial teamwork.” “In their endeavour to reach each village, each ward, each household, and to add every eligible elector to the draft electoral roll, the CEO of Bihar, the DEOs of all 38 districts, the EROs of all 243 Assembly constituencies, 2,976 AEROs, the Booth Level Officers (BLOs) of 90,712 polling booths, lakhs of volunteers, and 1.60 lakh Booth Level Agents (BLAs) nominated by 12 political parties have carried out the task with full responsibility,” the Commission said. It added that there was “unprecedented participation by electors,” with more than 7.24 crore voters in Bihar filling out Enumeration Forms, all of whom have been included in the draft electoral roll. The ECI further informed that from August 1 to September 1, electors and political parties can file claims and objections to add the name of any eligible voter or to remove the name of any ineligible one. Claims and objections must be submitted in the prescribed format to the concerned ERO. Voters who have been left out still have a one-month window to get their names added. “All eligible electors are urged to check their names in the draft list. If their name is missing, they should submit Form 6 along with the Declaration Form,” the ECI stated. “Young voters who turned 18 on or before July 1, or will turn 18 by October 1, should also get their names included by filling out Form 6 along with the Declaration Form,” it added.
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