By Anushka Rajvedi
The final Bihar voter list, published on Tuesday, comprises 7.42 crore voters, approximately 6 percent less than the 7.89 crore as of 24 June 2025. On the same day, the Election Commission of India (ECI) announced a three-month Special Intensive Research (SIR) in the state.
In a statement given to The Indian Express, sources from Bihar informed that nearly 99 per cent of the deletions were a result of death, permanent migration and duplication. This runs counter to the ECI’s defence of the SIR as a citizenship verification exercise. The information on how many foreign nationals were removed from the electoral roll was not revealed by the Election Commission and the Bihar Chief Electoral Officer (CEO).
In the Supreme Court, the ECI had insisted that it was within its powers to seek proof of citizenship, and justified placing the burden of proof on electors — but the outcome shows that no citizenship or foreign nationals were practically at stake — if the case raises questions as to why there was such a high bar for inclusion.
In a statement announcing the conclusion of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR), the Election Commission said that the “exercise was carried out in accordance with Article 326 of the Constitution and ECI’s motto of ‘no eligible voter to be left out, and no ineligible person to be included in the electoral rolls.” The Commission further stated that any person aggrieved can file a first appeal before the District Magistrate and a second appeal before the Chief Electoral Officer according to the Representation of the People Act, 1950.
Article 326 only allows for Indian citizens above the age of 18 to be registered as electors. The Form 6 of the current enrolment form, however, still does not need proof of citizenship.
While the Supreme Court did not stay the exercise, it did raise the bar for exclusion by directing that Aadhaar be included as the “12th document” for proof of identity for the revision.