6-5-crore-voters-dropped-from-draft-rolls-in-sir-phase-2

Nearly 6.5 crore names have been dropped from the draft electoral rolls of nine states and three Union Territories following Phase 2 of the Election Commission’s ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise, officials said on Wednesday.

 

Before Phase 2 began on October 27, the 12 states and UTs together had 50.90 crore registered electors. After publication of the revised draft rolls, the number has fallen to 44.40 crore, reflecting the removal of voters categorised as absent, shifted, deceased or duplicate (ASD).

 

Election Commission officials said the deletions followed verification exercises carried out during the revision process. They also noted that the collection of enumeration forms had been significantly lower in urban areas compared to rural regions across the states and UTs covered under SIR.

 

Uttar Pradesh accounted for the largest deletion. The draft electoral roll published on Tuesday excluded 2.89 crore voters, retaining 12.55 crore names. Officials said the excluded voters, about 18.7 per cent of the earlier electorate of 15.44 crore, could not be retained due to deaths, permanent migration or multiple registrations.

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Phase 2 of the SIR began on November 4 in Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Gujarat, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Puducherry, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. Assam is undergoing a separate special revision of electoral rolls.

 

The Election Commission said the latest SIR would serve as a cut-off benchmark, similar to how the 2003 voter list of Bihar was used during intensive revisions in the past. Most states last carried out a Special Intensive Revision between 2002 and 2004.

 

The primary objective of the current exercise is to clean electoral rolls and identify illegal foreign migrants, with particular emphasis on verifying place of birth. The revision has gained significance amid intensified crackdowns in several states on illegal migration, including from Bangladesh and Myanmar.