New Delhi [India], August 16 : The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Saturday flagged that the time to raise issues about errors in the electoral rolls, even those in the past, was during the "Claims and Objections" period.
According to the EC, the precise objective behind sharing the electoral roll with all political parties and candidates was so that any issue regarding the same can be raised on time. The constitutional body raised the issue of political parties and their Booth Level Agents not examining the electoral rolls at the appropriate time.
It said that the digital and physical copies are shared with recognised political parties after the publication of the final electoral roll on the EC's website.
"Recently, some Political Parties and individuals are raising issues about errors in the Electoral Rolls, including those prepared in the past. The appropriate time to raise any issue with the Electoral Rolls would have been during the Claims and Objections period of that phase, which is precisely the objective behind sharing the Electoral Rolls with all Political Parties and the Candidates," EC said in an official release.
"Had these issues been raised at the right time through the right channels, it would have enabled the concerned SDM EROs to correct the mistakes, if genuine, before those election," the release read.
Earlier, the EC received a total of 28,370 claims and objections regarding the draft voter list following the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls in Bihar, and 857 have been disposed of.
The poll panel said that after 15 days of release of draft voter list, no claim or objection has been submitted by any political partyA total of 1,03,703 forms have been received from new electors on attaining 18 years of age or above, including six forms received from BLAs.
As per rules, the claims and objections are to be disposed of by the concerned ERO/AERO after the expiry of seven days from the verification of eligibility documents.
As per SIR orders, no name can be deleted from the draft list published on August 1, 2025, without passing a speaking order by the ERO/AERO after conducting an enquiry and after giving a fair and reasonable opportunity, the press note said.
The ECI published the draft voter list after the SIR exercise in poll-bound Bihar on August 1. The final voter list will be released after the one month given for claims and objections.
Meanwhile, Congress announced that Rahul Gandhi's 'Voter Adhikar Yatra' across Bihar will cover more than 20 districts, spanning 1,300 kilometres over 16 days.
The Voter Adhikaar Yatra is a campaign led by Rahul Gandhi and other INDIA bloc leaders to raise awareness about voter rights and protest against alleged "vote theft" and alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls.
In a social media post on X, Rahul Gandhi wrote, "16 days 20+ districts 1,300+ km We are coming among the people with the Voter Adhikaar Yatra. This is the fight to protect the most fundamental democratic right - 'one person, one vote.' Join us in Bihar to save the Constitution."