Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar on Sunday asserted that the “successful” Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar last year had led to a significant rise in voter turnout in the assembly polls that followed.

Speaking to reporters at Patna airport, the CEC, who is on a two-day tour of the state, said the voting percentage in the 2025 Bihar assembly polls was higher than turnouts witnessed in advanced countries such as the US, the UK and France.

“Bihar is the land where Vaishali, the cradle of democracy, is situated. We take pride in the fact that the SIR was conducted here successfully for the first time,” Kumar said.

The CEC pointed out that following the mammoth exercise, conducted over a three-month period during which around 70 lakh names were knocked off the electoral rolls, a sharp rise was seen in the voter turnout when assembly polls which were held soon afterwards.

“As you all know, men and women came out in large numbers to vote and the turnout broke all records in the state. It may be noted that the voter turnout in Bihar assembly polls was higher than what has been seen, over the years, in major democracies like the US, the UK, France, Spain and Japan,” the CEC added.

The assembly polls held in November last year registered a voter turnout of 67.25 per cent, which, according to the Election Commission, was the highest for the state since Independence.