CEC says Bihar's voter list 'purified' after 22 years; new poll reforms to be model for India

Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar on Sunday announced that the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise had “purified” Bihar’s voters’ list for the first time in 22 years. He said several new initiatives introduced during the process will now serve as a template for future elections across India.

Addressing a press conference in Patna at the end of his two-day state visit, Kumar said the Election Commission of India (ECI) had introduced a new Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) to ensure that Electors Photo Identity Cards (EPICs) are delivered to voters within 15 days of registration. Another innovation, he said, is the introduction of a mobile deposit facility at polling booths to improve voter convenience and transparency.

“The SIR has purified Bihar’s voters’ list after 22 years,” Kumar said. “We have an Electoral Registration Officer (ERO) in each of the 243 assembly constituencies, assisted by 90,207 Booth Level Officers (BLOs), who worked extensively to complete this exercise.”

The CEC confirmed that elections to the 243-member Bihar Assembly would be held before the current term ends on November 22.

Kumar, who was accompanied by Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sindhu and Vivek Joshi, also met representatives of political parties and reviewed administrative preparedness for the polls during his visit.

The last intensive revision of Bihar’s electoral rolls had taken place in 2003.