Patna: The Election Commission on Sunday clarified that the special voter list revision in Bihar is going ahead as planned, and the draft list will include names of existing voters who have submitted their forms.

The statement came after social media posts claimed there was a change in the process following opposition protests.

A social media post from the Bihar chief electoral officer (CEO) made it clear that the exercise was being undertaken "exactly" as per the notification of the Election Commission of India (ECI). "Important Information - SIR in Bihar is progressing as per ECI's order dated 24 June 2025. As per that order, the draft electoral rolls that will be issued on August 1, 2025, will contain the names of the existing electors whose enumeration forms are received," the CEO said in a post on X and Facebook.

"All measures are being taken to facilitate the existing electors to complete the documentation. These existing voters will have time to submit the documents even after first submitting their enumeration forms. All activities are exactly as per ECI's order dated 24.06.2025", the CEO added.

The clarification comes close on the heels of an ECI advertisement in newspapers, which stated that those who did not have the requisite documents at hand could "submit only their enumeration forms" to the officials concerned. 

This had led to a perception that the ECI had gone back on many of the contentious parts of the mammoth exercise, which, according to parties in the opposition, had become a virtual test of citizenship. Netizens flooded social media with posts about the perceived "change", though the CEO made no mention of these in their statement.

The Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls, which is being carried out only in Bihar, where assembly polls are due in about a couple of months, has been opposed by the INDIA bloc. INDIA bloc parties have also decided to flag the issue in the state on July 9 as part of a nationwide strike called by Left-leaning trade unions.

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