Bihar SIR: 50% Voters in Gopalganj Submitted Forms Without Documents, 15% Names Dropped

After the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in Bihar, the Election Commission has released its draft voter list. According to the SIR data, the highest change in voter numbers has occurred in Gopalganj district. Here, 15 percent of voters (3,10,363) have been removed. These, according to the poll body, are voters who were found to be deceased or displaced, and their names are almost certain to be deleted. However, across the six assembly constituencies of Gopalganj, nearly 50 percent of voters have submitted enumeration forms without attaching any documents, as per data released by the Election Commission of India (ECI). If they fail to provide the required documents in the second phase, their names could also be removed from the list.As of 24 June 2025 — just before the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) began — there were a total of 20 lakh (2,055,845) voters across the six assembly constituencies of Gopalganj. The Election Commission distributed enumeration forms to all voters, but by 25 July 2025, only 17 lakh (1,745,482) forms had been filled and returned.Out of these, only 7 lakh voters submitted any kind of document along with their enumeration forms. Among these 7 lakh, 54,944 voters submitted documents like Aadhaar, driving licence, or PAN card — which are not among the 11 officially prescribed documents.In Bihar’s Gopalganj district, the six assembly constituencies are Baikunthpur, Barauli, Gopalganj, Kuchaikote, Bhore (SC), and Hathua. As of 24 June 2025 — before the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) began — these six constituencies had a combined total of 20.55 lakh voters. But after the SIR, around half of them — 10,43,709 voters — were found to have submitted enumeration forms without attaching even one of the 11 officially mandated documents.According to a notification issued by the Election Commission on 24 June, necessary documents were supposed to be submitted along with the form in the first phase itself. However, just days later, on 6 July, a newspaper advertisement stated that forms could also be submitted without documents.Now, focusing solely on Gopalganj district, about 50 percent of voters have not submitted any supporting documents. In the second phase, booth-level officers (BLOs) will have to revisit voters to collect documents, or voters must proactively check their names and submit documents to the BLOs themselves.Across the six assembly constituencies of Gopalganj, documents still need to be collected from 50% of the voters. But the big question is — if these voters fail to submit the required documents, will their names be removed from the final voter list?To understand this, The Quint spoke to Gopalganj District Magistrate Pawan Kumar Sinha. He said:"Initially, forms were to be accepted only along with documents. But the Commission became concerned — if people get stuck over documents, how will the process be completed? So later, the Commission made an amendment. It was decided that simple forms should be accepted, just get their signatures. Now we are in the one-month window for claims and objections. During this period, we will collect the documents. Our BLOs will reach out to such voters. And if even then they don’t submit the documents, we’ll start issuing notices after the 10th or 15th [of the month].”Pawan Kumar Sinha, DM, GopalganjWhen asked whether there was any official notification regarding the amendment, Gopalganj DM Pawan Kumar Sinha said it was communicated during a video conferencing (VC) session. He clarified that this was not limited to Gopalganj — the same approach was followed across all of Bihar.DM Sinha further explained, “Among the 50 percent who haven’t submitted documents, the majority are likely to be those whose parents’ names appear in the 2003 voter list. In such cases, all they need to do is submit any document that can establish that the listed individuals are indeed their parents.”“For such individuals, it’s not necessary to submit one of the 11 documents prescribed by the Election Commission. Even a bank passbook that establishes the relationship with their parents will be considered valid.”Among Gopalganj’s six assembly constituencies, Bhore is reserved for Scheduled Castes. The highest number of document-less enumeration form submissions came from Hathua constituency, where out of 3.26 lakh voters, 2.17 lakh (66.61 percent) submitted forms without any supporting documents.Next is Bhore, where 2.11 lakh voters — 57.39 percent of the constituency — submitted their forms without attaching a single document.According to the Election Commission, enumeration forms were distributed to all 20.55 lakh voters in Gopalganj, but only 17.45 lakh forms were returned. Around 3.10 lakh forms — roughly 15 percent — were not submitted. The Commission says these 3.10 lakh voters were found to be deceased, untraceable, or have migrated. Their names will be removed from the final voter list.Out of the total 20.55 lakh voters across Gopalganj’s six assembly constituencies, 17.45 lakh have been included in the SIR draft list. The remaining 3.10 lakh voters — about 15 percent — have been excluded.Among the six constituencies, Gopalganj Sadar saw the highest exclusion, with nearly 19 percent of its voters left out of the draft list. It was followed by Kuchaikote (18 percent), Barauli (15 percent), Hathua (14 percent), Baikunthpur (13 percent), and Bhore (Reserved) with 12 percent voters excluded.

BECOME A MEMBER

Bihar SIR: Gopalganj- 50% Voters Submitted Forms Without Documents Now Mandatory

Gopalganj: 50% submitted forms without documents; 3.1 lakh voters excluded after SIR due to death or migration.

Read Latest News and Breaking News at The Quint, browse for more from news and politics

Topics: Bihar Election Commission Election