Survey conducted on Special Intensive Revision of Voter List in Bihar - 2025

Background

The Election Commission of India (ECI) released an Order on 24 June 2025, citing its constitutional mandate under Article 324, that a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) will be conducted from 25 June 2025. The SIR aims to verify the citizenship of voters instead of the enumeration of voters. Interestingly, EC released a new set of guidelines for SIR of the voters list, which prescribed 11 documents to be submitted along with a form specifically designed for this extensive exercise.

EC also states that BLOs will visit each voter’s residence and provide him/her the stipulated form in two copies, and will receive it back from the voter who will paste her/his photo and attach one of the 11 documents to the form to prove her/his citizenship.

What is SIR

• Revision of the electoral rolls of 7.7 crore voters in Bihar.
• Proof of citizenship is required as per EC guidelines.
• Voters listed in 2003 electoral roll are exempt from providing any document.
• The voters who are not listed on the 2003 electoral roll (about 2.74 crores) have to submit proof of their citizenship.
• The exercise is on from 25th June 2025 and will end on 26th July, 2025.
• The draft roll of verified voters will be published on 1st August 2025.
• The final Electoral Roll of Bihar’s voters (including new voters) will be published on 1st September 2025.

Categorisation of Voters & Documentation Requirements

The EC provided (according to its instructions released on 24th June 2025) three categories of voters based on the year of birth –

Categories:

Category	Birthdate Range	Documentation Required
1	Before 01-07-1987	Own birth date/place
2	01-07-1987 to 02-12-2004	Own + one parent’s birth date/place
3	After 02-12-2004	Own + both parents’ birth date/place

Inference: This exercise raises concerns for –

a. The younger the voter, the heavier the documentation burden. This could discourage participation among youth, first-time voters, and children of migrants.

b. People living in slum areas or the floating population in the cities who usually don’t have a permanent residence.

c. People living in flood-prone areas such as the Kosi region of Bihar, where it is difficult to store the necessary documents (We know that the Kosi region has faced severe floods in recent times – 2024, 2023 and 2021).

d. Non-residents of the districts with a high intensity of migration, like Katihar, Araria, etc.

Prescribed Documents

Acceptable:

1. Birth certificate (Govt. issued)
2. Passport
3. Matriculation/higher education certificate
4. Govt. ID/Pension order
5. Permanent Domicile certificate
6. Forest rights certificate
7. Caste certificate
8. NRC document (if applicable)
9. Family register
10. Land/house allotment certificate
11. Govt./PSU ID issued before 1987

❌ Aadhaar, PAN, and Driving License are not acceptable as sole proof

Inference:

a. This selection favours institutionally documented, literate, and property-owning citizens.

b. Only 2.4% of the total population in Bihar possesses a Passport.

c. According to the Bihar Caste Survey Report, only 1.57% of the total population is in a government job; only 14% population of Bihar has a certificate of Matriculation – similar depressing data for other documents too.

d. In effect, the list of 11 documents so put together has to exclude or prevent the bulk of the Bihar population from being able to prove their citizenship.

e. In contrast, the documents most easily available to them (e.g. Aadhar, EPIC and Ration Card) have been excluded from the list.

Findings of the Survey

This report analyses the findings of the survey conducted by PUCL volunteers in Patna slums. The survey covered more than 300 Households. It was conducted between 15th July to 21st July, 2025. The households were randomly selected in 6 slums of Patna by 8 field workers. Following is the report of the findings we got during the survey –

1. Awareness of the SIR

Question: Are you aware that the Election Commission is conducting a voter survey in Bihar?

• Yes: 94%
• No: 6%Inference: 94% of respondents reported general awareness of SIR. This high degree of awareness may be related to the fact that the survey was conducted in Patna – the capital city. The slums in Patna have better access to media and other sources of information.

2. Awareness of the Impact on Voting Rights

Question: If yes, are you aware that based on this survey, you will be allowed to vote in the next election?

• Yes: 95.7%
• No: 4.2%Inference: 95.7% of respondents who are aware of SIR also understand its implications on their voting rights.

3. Understanding What Needs to Be Done

Question: If yes, do you know what you need to do to get your name added to the electoral roll?

• Yes: 88.2%
• No: 11.7%Inference: Despite the high level of awareness, only 88.2% respondents replied that they knew what steps they had to take to get their names added to the electoral rolls. In the event of their names are left out of the final list, it would be a huge number of disfranchised voters; 11.7% of total voters would be around 70-80 lakh voters.

4. Contact by BLO or Government Representative

Question: Has any BLO (Booth Level Officer) or government official visited your house for the survey?

• Yes: 52%
• No: 13%
• Others: 35%Inference: Although the instruction from EC was that BLO should visit every household, only 52% respondents stated that BLO had visited their homes. While 13% categorically stated that BLO didn’t visit their houses, 35% respondents reported that some other officials like Anganwadi workers, Municipality workers and others had visited their homes for SIR. This is a gross violation of the guidelines.It should be mentioned here that in Patna, the capital city, if only 52% respondents reported that BLO visited their homes, one can imagine the corresponding figures of rural and remote areas and places which are inaccessible, like flood-prone areas or of the people living near embankments in Kosi region.

5. Distribution of Enumeration Forms

Question: Did the official give forms for all voters in your household?

• Only one form given: 5%
• More than one, but not enough: 8.5%
• Forms for all members: 75%
• Did not receive any form: 11.5%Inference: One of the most important guidelines of ECI, that officials should give individual forms for all the voters in each household. While 75% of respondents reported that they received individual forms for each member in their family, 25% of respondents reported insufficient receipt of forms.Significantly, 11.5%, of them said that they didn’t receive any form. This is a huge gap.

6. Submission of Forms

Question: Did you fill and submit the form?

• Yes: 81.1%
• No: 18.8%Inference: A significant number of respondents (18.8%) have not submitted their forms. It points to insufficient information provided to the voters by the BLOs/ government officials.

7. Acknowledgement of Form Submission

Question: Did you receive a receipt upon submission?

• Yes: 3.3%
• No: 96.6%Inference: Of those 81% respondents who have submitted their forms, 96.6% have reported that the BLOs/other officials had not issued any receipt of submission of their enumeration forms.

8. Documents Attached with Form

Question: What documents did you attach with the form?

• Only photo, no documents: 24.6%
• Photo and one of the 11 prescribed documents: 10.3%
• Photo and Other documents: 64.9%Inference: It should be pointed out that ECI issued clear guidelines regarding the submission of enumeration forms –a. There should be a recent photo of the voter pasted on the enumeration form.b. Any one of the 11 prescribed documents must be attached to it.Many respondents in the surveyed slums of Patna reported that BLO/other officials had told them that a photo alone would be sufficient and other documents need not be attached. This is clear violation of the guidelines issued by the ECI.

  It is a matter of severe concern that 24.6% of respondents reported that they had submitted their forms with a photo alone, no documents. It is unclear what the ECI would do while scrutinising the submitted forms, such as those of the 24.6% respondents.

  Secondly, 64.9% respondents out of those who have submitted their forms (81% of respondents), have submitted their forms with their photo and any other document which wasn’t prescribed by the ECI.

  In effect, put together, 89.5% of the respondents who have submitted their forms risk the possibility of their forms being rejected for non-compliance with guidelines at the 2nd round of scrutiny.

9. Reasons for Not Submitting the Form

Question: If you didn’t submit the form, what was the issue?

• Did not have the required documents: 25.9%
• The person named in the form was not present: 11.1%
• Other reasons: 62.9% (such as didn’t know where to submit the form etc.)Inference: As pointed out earlier, 18.8% of respondents reported that they didn’t submit their enumeration form. The reasons for not submitting the form include –Not having required documents (25.9%), the person whose form was there(provided by BLO/other official) was not present (11.1%), and very interestingly, 62.9% reported other reasons, like they didn’t know where to submit the forms or it implies that BLO didn’t inform clearly where they had to submit the form.

10. Documents Available Other Than Prescribed Documents

Question: Which identity documents do you have other than the 11 prescribed ones?

• Voter card, Aadhaar card, Ration card – 91%
• PAN Card – 7%
• Driving license – 1.5%Inference: A very high 91% of respondents have commonly held documents such as Aadhaar and voter cards, despite them not being accepted as standalone proof under SIR guidelines. This indicates a major gap in communication about which documents are valid.As mentioned above (in Section 8), it has been reported that respondents submitted Aadhaar Cards or other documents instead of the prescribed documents, because these are easily available documents.Incidentally, the SC in its observation on 10th July (hearing against SIR) also has recommended these documents to be considered as proof.

11. Inclusion in the 2003 Voter List

Question: Are you included in the 2003 voter list?

• Yes: 58.8%
• No: 41.1%Inference: Over 40% of people are not on the 2003 list, which means they must now prove citizenship, creating serious inclusion challenges.

12. Voting After 2003

Question: Have you voted since 2003?

• Yes: 87%
• No: 13%Inference: Most respondents have actively participated in past elections, yet many of them are now required to reconfirm their eligibility under SIR 2025.This is particularly important since 87% of the respondents have reported having voted after 2003. In effect, it will result in disenfranchisement of a significant proportion of voters even though they have voted in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.The 13% of respondents might also include those persons who have to provide details of not only themselves but also of parent/parents. As pointed out earlier, a significant number of them, especially married women, will face challenges in providing the necessary documents to have their names added to the list, thereby risking being excluded.

Indicator	Key Data
General awareness of SIR	94%
Aware of impact on voting	95.7%
Aware of steps to be taken	88.2%
BLO/government contact	52% contacted, 48% not or unclear
Complete form distribution	75% received for all, 25% did not
Form submission rate	81.1% submitted, 18.8% not submitted
Receipt of submission	Only 3.3% received a receipt
Submitted prescribed document	Only 10.3%
Not in the 2003 voter list	41.1%
Voted after 2003	87%