PATNA: Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar on Sunday said the successful Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar last year contributed to a significant increase in voter turnout in the 2025 Assembly elections.
Kumar, who is on a two-day visit to Bihar, told media persons at Patna airport that the 2025 Assembly election turnout was higher than that recorded in developed democracies such as the United States, the United Kingdom and France.
“Bihar is the land where Vaishali, the birthplace of democracy, is located. It is a matter of pride that the SIR was successfully conducted here for the first time,” the CEC said.
He said the exercise resulted in around 70 lakh names being removed from the electoral rolls. The revision was followed by the Assembly elections, which recorded a significant rise in voter turnout.
“A large number of men and women came out to vote, and the voter turnout broke all previous records in the state,” Kumar said.
He said the turnout in the Bihar Assembly election was higher than the levels recorded over the years in the US, UK, France, Spain and Japan. The elections held in November last year recorded a voter turnout of 67.25 per cent, the highest in Bihar since Independence, according to the Election Commission.
Speaking at a conference in Patna, Kumar said the country’s most successful exercise for purification of electoral rolls began in Bihar.
The CEC also launched Electoral Literacy Club 2.0 (ELC 2.0). The Election Commission had launched Electoral Literacy Clubs in 2018 under its Systematic Voters’ Education and Electoral Participation (SVEEP) programme to familiarise students and young citizens with democratic values, the electoral process and the functioning of the poll panel.
Officials said the ELC programme was being revamped as ELC 2.0 in view of the changing information and communication environment and growing digital participation among young people. The initiative aims to turn Electoral Literacy Clubs in schools, colleges and universities into year-round, digitally enabled platforms.
The CEC is also set to launch a ‘Gen Z’ voter awareness campaign from Bihar to familiarise first-time voters and youngsters with the democratic process, the importance of voting and the electoral system.
Kumar is scheduled to visit Vaishali, Madhubani and Sitamarhi during his visit. On Monday, he will interact with around 500 Booth Level Officers (BLOs) at Nalanda University in Rajgir.
During the interaction, the CEC will seek feedback from BLOs on their experiences during the SIR process, the challenges they faced on the ground and measures to make the electoral process more effective and accessible.
