75 Million Voters, Zero Appeals: CEC Flags Bihar Rolls as Benchmark

Kumar also noted not even a single repoll was ordered in the two phases of Bihar Assembly elections in any of the one lakh polling stations. "That was the level of efficiency by our electoral officials," he said, adding this is the precision level required by election management bodies not only in India but globally.

"Pure electoral roll, including each and every eligible elector as per law, is essential to strengthen democracy and all elections that will be held on the basis of that electoral roll. The conduct of elections becomes a challenging and logistical affair because a large number of people have to obey and follow the electoral laws and instructions issued by election commissions globally, including India," the CEC said, while addressing the gathering. Nearly 100 delegates from around 70 countries are attending the International Conference on Democracy and Election Management (IICDEM-2026).

He mentioned successful conduct of the Bihar Assembly polls after the revised electoral rolls were done amid tight public scrutiny.

"Bihar went for elections a few months back. The first step was purification of rolls, including eligible electors. That stage got completed and under electoral laws there is a provision for an elector of any Assembly segment to file an appeal so that no wrong name gets included and no right name gets excluded. You will be amazed that with the efficiency of the Booth Level Officers, the Electoral Registration of Officers and the Chief Electoral officer of Bihar that out of 75 million electors the number of appeals were zero. Amidst tight public scrutiny and the watch of all citizens across the country and Bihar, the electoral rolls were finalised and then the elections were held," the CEC said.

The Opposition parties have been attacking the BJP government and the Election Commission over the SIR, alleging it is a move to manipulate votes, a charge denied by both the government and the EC.