No names can be deleted from Bihar draft rolls without due process: Election Commission

The Election Commission on Sunday asserted that no name can be deleted from the draft electoral roll of Bihar without following due process, including an order from the electoral registration officer (ERO).

The EC underlined the due process involved in the exercise amid allegations by opposition parties that crores of eligible persons will lose their voting rights for want of documents due to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the voter list in Bihar.

The poll panel said there will be no deletion from Draft Electoral Rolls without a "speaking order".

A speaking order is a self-explanatory order that details the reasons for reaching a particular conclusion.

According to SIR guidelines, no name can be deleted from the draft list published on August 1 without notice and a speaking order of the Electoral Registration Officer/Assistant Electoral Registration Officer(ERO/AERO), it said.

Any elector aggrieved by any decision of the ERO can appeal to the District Magistrate and the Chief Electoral Officer thereafter.

The final voter list will be published in the state on September 30.

Assembly polls are due in Bihar later this year.