EC: No political party has sought changes to Bihar's draft voter list yet
The poll panel received no party requests for inclusion or deletion of names; final rolls to be published on September 30 amid Opposition protests
The Election Commission said on Sunday (August 10) that since the publication of Bihar’s draft voters’ list on August 1, no political party has submitted any request to add or remove names from the electoral rolls.
The draft roll will be available till September 1 for claims and objections under which parties and individuals can seek inclusion of eligible citizens left out and exclusion of those they believe are ineligible.
The EC said that between August 1 and 3 pm of August 10 (Sunday), no booth-level agent (BLA) appointed by parties has approached poll authorities in the claims and objections procedure.
Draft list part of SIR
According to the EC, 1.61 lakh BLAs have been deployed by various parties just before the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of state electoral rolls began in June.
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As many as 8,341 forms were received for the inclusion or removal of names from individual electors.
The draft list is part of the ongoing SIR of the voter list of Bihar by the EC, which is facing protests from the Opposition parties as they claim the exercise will deny many eligible citizens their voting rights for want of documents.
Seeking debate on the issue, the Opposition protests have been leading to stalling of both Houses of Parliament since the Monsoon session began on July 21.
The EC has asserted that no eligible citizen will be left out of the electoral rolls. The final electoral roll will be published on September 30.
(With agency inputs)