- By Soumyaroop Mukherjee
- Mon, 06 Oct 2025 06:06 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
The Election Commission, which announced the schedule for the Bihar Assembly poll on Monday, also launched several poll initiatives aimed at improving the voting process in the country. Among these was the prominent launch of the ECINet App, a single platform that will integrate 40 election apps. The ECI also announced initiatives, including free delivery of EPIC and mobile deposit facility at polling stations.
Bihar will go to polls in two phases on November 6 and 11, while the counting of votes will take place on November 14. The poll body urged all voters to participate in the process. The Chief Election Commissioner, Gyanesh Kumar, stated that the polling is being conducted soon after the Chhath festival to ensure maximum participation from the voters. Earlier on Saturday, all the key parties of the state, including the BJP, RJD, JDU, Congress, and LJP, had urged the poll body to conduct the election in fewer phases and after Chhath.
The high-octane Bihar elections will also see several poll initiatives, which will gradually be implemented nationwide. These rules are expected to be implemented later on across the country.
Here Are The New Initiatives That Will Be Implemented In Bihar:
- The Election Commission of India has announced the free delivery of the Electors Photo Identity Cards (EPIC) f all voters. A new SOP has been put in place through which the EPIC will be delivered within 15 days of registration.
- To increase transparency at the lower level, all the booth-level officers will have standardised identity cards. "Identity cards have been introduced for booth-level officials to better identify them when approaching voters," the Chief Election Commissioner said.
- One General Observer will be deployed in each constituency who will act as the eyes and ears of the Election Commissioner.
- A separate mobile deposit facility will be provided at each polling station to streamline the process of voting.
- The Election Commission of India (ECI) has redesigned the Voter Information Slip (VIS) with larger fonts to make it clearer and more convenient for voters.
- The Election Commission of India (ECI) has integrated all election-related information in the ECINet App, which is set to become the ‘One-stop Digital Platform’ for all voters.
- Bihar will be the first state where each polling station will have a limit of around 1,200 voters at a time to reduce the long queues and increase voter access. Earlier, the cap was at 1,500 voters, which is now lowered, leading to an addition of 12,817 new polling stations and raising the total count from 77,895 to 90,712.
- Candidate Booths will be allowed just outside 100 metres of Polling Stations.
- The Bihar election is also the first state where the EVMs will feature coloured photographs and larger fonts of the candidates, as opposed to the black and white images of the candidates previously. This will give much more clarity to the voters who often have difficulty identifying the candidates.
- There will be 100 per cent webcasting coverage during the elections so that a greater level of transparency is maintained. "There will be 100 per cent webcasting at every polling station," the ECI said.
ALSO READ: Bihar Election 2025: Police Reshuffle In Muzaffarpur, Five Officials Shifted | Details
- The Election Commission of India has digitised its Index Card and Statistical Reporting system to promote accessibility, speed, and transparency in post-election data.
- Mandatory VVPAT Counting has been put in place to tally with the mismatches in votes.
- Postal ballots will be counted before the penultimate round of EVM/VVPATs is taken up.