Bihar’s Final Electoral Roll: 7.4 Crore Voters Ahead of Assembly Polls

The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Tuesday published the final electoral roll for Bihar, revealing that the state will have 7.4 crore eligible voters for the upcoming assembly elections. This marks a 6% decline from the 7.9 crore voters recorded on June 24, before the special intensive revision (SIR) exercise.

The revision process, aimed at updating and cleaning the rolls, saw 3.7 lakh electors declared “ineligible” and deleted, while 21.5 lakh new voters were added. Compared to the draft roll published on August 1, which had 7.2 crore voters after 65 lakh names were removed, the final figure is 17.9 lakh higher.

The ECI clarified that the final figure may see minor adjustments as supplementary lists are published during the polling process.

The SIR process has dominated pre-election discussions in Bihar. While initial protests erupted after 65 lakh names were dropped—culminating in Congress MP Rahul Gandhi’s statewide ‘Voter Adhikar Yatra’ from Sasaram on August 17—responses to the finalized rolls were notably muted. Opposition leaders including Tejashwi Yadav (RJD), Dipankar Bhattacharya (CPI-ML), and Mukesh Sahani (VIP) had earlier voiced strong objections to the deletions.

The EC has ensured that eligible voters can still request inclusion in the roll up to 10 days before the last date for filing nominations. Those dissatisfied with the process may file a first appeal with the district magistrate under Section 24 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950, and a second appeal with the Chief Electoral Officer.

The release of the final rolls also signals the start of preparations for the official announcement of poll dates, expected around October 5–6, when ECI officials are scheduled to visit Bihar.