Patna, Aug 16 (IANS) Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar on Sunday credited the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls for a significant rise in voter turnout in Bihar elections. 

Addressing media persons on arrival in Patna on a two-day visit to Bihar, CEC Gyanesh Kumar said the turnout in Bihar elections was even higher than that in the US, the UK, France, Spain and Japan.

"My greetings to all the voters of Bihar. I have come to pay obeisance to the sacred land of Bihar. The most successful initiative across the country for the purification and updating of the electoral roll started from Bihar itself," he added.

"And the voting percentage in the peaceful Bihar Legislative Assembly elections held in 2025 was not only the highest in Bihar from Independence but was also higher than the voting percentage in the general elections of America, England, France, Spain and Japan..." he said.

With 7.45 crore eligible electors, Bihar clocked a historic, highest ever voter turnout of 66.91 per cent in the Legislative Assembly election last year.

On arrival at the Patna airport on Sunday, the CEC was welcomed by Bihar Chief Electoral Officer Vinod Singh Gunjiyal and other officials.

During his two-day visit to the state, the CEC is going to visit Sitamarhi, Madhubani and Vaishali. He will be accompanied by state election officials during these visits.

On Sunday, CEC Gyanesh Kumar interacted with the state election officials.

The SIR of electoral rolls, which began in phases from Bihar in 2025, involved door-to-door enumeration by Booth Level Officers using pre-filled forms. It aimed to clean up electoral rolls by removing deceased, shifted, duplicate, or ineligible entries while protecting the rights of genuine voters.

During the SIR in Bihar, the poll body introduced the mandatory provisions for new applicants seeking inclusion in electoral rolls to provide details of their parents' status from the previous SIR is a new exercise.

This requirement applied not only to existing voters missed in earlier SIR exercises but also to fresh applicants filling Form-6.

It was aimed at streamlining verification, mapping family linkages, and reducing the need for extensive documentation by linking new voters to legacy electoral data.

--IANS