The Election Commission of India has uploaded the 2003 Electoral Roll for Bihar on its official website, easing documentation requirements for around 4.96 crore electors ahead of the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process in the state.
According to a statement issued by the Commission, these electors no longer need to submit any additional documents while submitting their Enumeration Forms. This also applies to the children, who can now use their relevant entries from the 2003 rolls as the main documentary evidence for their respective parents.
The Commission also made note of the move that follows Paragraph 5 of the instructions issued on 24th of June 2025, which directed Chief Electoral Officers (CEOs), District Electoral Officers (DEOs), and Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) to ensure both online and hard copy access to the 2003 rolls for Booth Level Officers (BLOs) and the public.
The rolls are now available for download on the ECI portal at https://voters.eci.gov.in.
Officials expect this step to significantly streamline the SIR exercise by reducing the paperwork burden on nearly 60 percent of Bihar’s electorate. Voters falling under this category are now only required to verify their existing details in the 2003 rolls and submit the Enumeration Form. Booth Level Officers of the commission will also have easy access to all these details, facilitating the verification process.
For those whose names somehow has not appeared in the 2003 rolls, the Commission clarified that they can still submit extracts from the 2003 Electoral Roll as valid proof for their parents, eliminating the need for any other documents in such cases. These applicants will, however, need to provide relevant documents for themselves along with the completed form.
The Commission reiterated that revision of electoral rolls before each election is a statutory requirement under Section 21(2)(a) of the Representation of the People Act, 1950, and Rule 25 of the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960. The ECI has always been carrying out annual revisions, both intensive and summary, for the past 75 years.
The electoral roll is considered a dynamic document, regularly updated to account for the addition of new voters, deaths, or changes in residence due to employment, education, or marriage.
Under Article 326 of the Constitution, eligibility for enrolment as an elector is confined to Indian citizens aged 18 and above, who are ordinarily resident in the concerned constituency.
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