ECI begins uploading omitted voter names in Bihar

New Delhi: Four days after the Supreme Court's directive, the Election Commission of India (ECI) has started publishing the names of voters omitted from the draft electoral rolls following the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in Bihar. The lists are now available on the websites of the respective district electoral officers (DEOs).

The omitted voters are broadly categorised as Absentee, Shifted, and Dead (ASD), along with those marked as "Pahle Se Panjikrit" (already registered). The inclusion of EPIC numbers has made it easier for genuine voters to search for their names. As per the information available, anyone dissatisfied with their omission can file an objection, accompanied by a copy of their Aadhaar card.

Initial data from Bihar's Seemanchal region shows that the number of omitted voters under each category varies significantly from booth to booth.


For example, at a booth located at Madhya Vidyalaya, Dalmalpur, Uttar Bhag, in the Amour Assembly seat (Purnea district, part of Muslim-dominated Kishanganj Lok Sabha seat), out of 228 total voters, 117 have been listed under Absentee, 65 under Dead, 39 under Shifted, and 7 under Already Registered.

Similarly, at Madhya Vidyalaya, Champa Bareli booth in the Baisi Assembly seat, 76 voters have been marked as omitted - 38 as Absentee, 22 as Shifted, 15 as Dead, and 1 as Already Registered.

At Kanya Madhya Vidyalaya, Madhbani (Uttar Bhag), located in the Purnea Assembly seat, 161 voters were listed, with 40 marked as Absentee, 82 as Dead, and 35 as Shifted.

Earlier, opposition parties had demanded that the ECI release separate lists of voters in each of the ASD categories who were omitted from the rolls.

"It will now be easier for us to verify which voters do not fall under the ASD categories in different booths. There are living voters who have been marked as dead," said Abhay Sinha, Purnea district general secretary of RJD, the state's main opposition party.

Welcoming the publication of the omitted voters' list, Sinha added that the RJD's BLA 2 representatives, stationed across various booths, will now actively verify the omissions. "We have very little time for this task. We may request the ECI to extend the deadline for submission of objections and claims," he said.