How Bihar SIR helped 37 key poll officials overstay their terms

At least 37 key election officials from nearly two-thirds of Bihar’s districts have overstayed their three-year terms by at least two to three months and remain in their posts because of the Special Intensive Revision process initiated by the election commission. All these officials are either deputy electoral officers and sub electoral officers.

In July 2022, Bihar Chief Election Officer’s office issued lists of 34 deputy electoral officers and 28 sub electoral officers, who were transferred to new positions. All of Bihar’s 38 districts have one deputy electoral officer and between one to five sub electoral officers depending on the size of the district.

These officials should have had new postings by July or August 2025. But in June, just a few months before the upcoming polls in Bihar, the election commission announced the intensive revision, an exercise aimed at updating the electoral roll by verifying the eligibility of nearly 80 million voters in the state.

According to the election commission’s rules, if a voter roll revision is underway, the terms of officials involved in the revision may be extended until the roll is updated – which is completed on the last day on which political candidates file their nominations.

In a letter marked September 23, 2025, which we have...

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