Booth-wise list of 65 lakh deleted Bihar voters published on website: EC

Mangalore Today News Network

New Delhi, Aug 22, 2025: The Election Commission has informed the Supreme Court that the booth-wise list of about 65 lakh people whose names do not figure in the draft electoral roll of Bihar has been uploaded on the websites of all 38 district election officers in the state, along with reasons for their non-inclusion.

In a status report filed ahead of the hearing on a plea challenging the validity of the special intensive revision of electoral rolls in poll-bound Bihar, the poll panel said the exclusions have been specified under three categories — death, change of ordinary residence or duplicate entries.

It added that the list has also been displayed at Panchayat Bhavan, Block Development and Panchayat Officers’ offices.

Further, Booth Level Officers and Booth Level Agents are in possession of the list and are available in villages and urban areas to clarify reasons for non-inclusion, and to assist residents in filing claims, objections or corrections in accordance with the procedure laid down under the SIR order of June 24, 2025, the EC said.

The poll body also said that to inform the public about the online availability of the list on the websites of the CEO and DEOs, and its display at Panchayat and Block Development offices, wide publicity has been given through newspapers, radio, television and social media, including official accounts of the DEOs.

“The public notices expressly mention that aggrieved persons may submit their claims along with a copy of their Aadhaar card,” the EC stated. 

The response was filed in compliance with the August 14, 2025 order of a bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi, which directed that the draft list of 65 lakh excluded persons be published online and that they be given an opportunity to seek re-entry in the rolls on the basis of Aadhaar. The matter is scheduled for hearing on Friday.

On August 14, the court had directed the EC to upload the list of deleted voters, along with reasons, noting that if the poll body could paste names on signboards, there was no reason why the information could not be made available on the website.

It had also said the deleted voters should be given an opportunity to appeal and that the online list should be in a searchable format using the EPIC number.