New Delhi: The Election Commission's Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls is in the final stage, and early verification data suggest that about 80 lakh voters could be omitted from the upcoming draft electoral roll. The large-scale verification exercise is aimed at removing ineligible and duplicate voters as well as ensuring that only those voters who are eligible remain in the electoral rolls.
According to verification reports up to Sunday evening, officials have already identified 68.28 lakh voter records for deletion due to various discrepancies uncovered during document verification and house-to-house surveys. Other cases are still being investigated, which could push the final number of exclusions close to 80 lakh.
Major Reasons for Removal
The Election Commission's field verification has identified five major categories of entries proposed for deletion.
The largest share is 41.04 lakh voters who have been found to have shifted from their registered addresses. Because they do not reside at the listed places, their names are marked for removal from the electoral rolls.
There are another 13.50 lakh names of deceased voters whose records are still in the electoral database. These names are being removed to maintain an updated voter list.
The officials also found that 8.92 lakh people could not be traced during the verification drive. Since their details could not be confirmed, these entries have been proposed for deletion from the draft roll.
In addition, 4.59 lakh duplicate voter registrations were detected; these were those people whose names appeared more than once in the same constituency or in different constituencies. These duplicate entries are being removed in order to guarantee the integrity of the electoral process.
The verification of 21,253 voters aged more than 100 years is ongoing, however. Election officials are currently checking them out before making a final decision on these cases.
Objective of the Special Intensive Revision
The Election Commission has said the SIR exercise is intended to prepare a clean, transparent and error-free electoral roll by removing duplicate, deceased and otherwise ineligible entries.
The revision is expected to enhance the credibility of elections by ensuring that the voter database accurately reflects eligible electors, officials said.
Opportunity to File Claims
The Commission added that eligible voters whose names are mistakenly omitted from the draft electoral roll will be allowed to restore their names.
In the correction period, people will be allowed to submit their claims and objections by filling out the proper application forms and other supporting documents. After verification, the names will be added to the final electoral roll.
Election officials have advised voters to watch for any errors or omissions within the draft list once it is published and report any errors or omissions immediately so that voters can protect their voting rights.
The final draft electoral roll will be released after verification of the process.
