EC to SC: 65 Lakh Bihar Voter Names Dropped

The list also contained reasons for their non-inclusion, including death, shifting of ordinary residence, or duplicate entries, the ECI told the Supreme Court. Physical copies of the list have been displayed in Panchayat Bhavans, block development offices, and Panchayat offices in villages across Bihar for easy access and enquiry.

Advertisements about the online availability of the lists were also issued in major newspapers, on radio and television, and posted on social media, the poll panel said. The affidavit was filed in compliance with the Supreme Court’s August 14 direction to publish an enumerated, booth-wise list of approximately 65 lakh electors not included in the draft electoral roll during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise in poll-bound Bihar.

The ECI further informed the court that its public notices had expressly mentioned that copies of Aadhaar cards could be submitted along with claims by voters aggrieved by non-inclusion in the draft Bihar electoral roll.

The top court was also informed that approximately 65 lakh names were dropped from the draft roll despite featuring in the voters' list prepared after a summary revision in January 2025. A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi will resume the hearing on a batch of petitions challenging the poll panel's move to conduct the SIR of electoral rolls in Bihar.

The petitions, filed by RJD MP Manoj Jha, the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), PUCL, activist Yogendra Yadav, Trinamool MP Mahua Moitra, and former Bihar MLA Mujahid Alam, sought to quash the ECI’s June 24 directive requiring large sections of voters in Bihar to submit proof of citizenship to remain on the electoral rolls.

They also raised concerns over the exclusion of widely held documents such as Aadhaar and ration cards, stating that this would disproportionately affect poor and marginalised voters, especially in rural Bihar.