The names of 10.56 lakh voters have been deleted from Assam’s electoral rolls following a Special Revision exercise, as the Election Commission on Saturday released the integrated draft rolls ahead of Assembly elections due in less than six months.
According to the draft rolls, Assam now has a total of 2,51,09,754 voters, excluding 93,021 D-Voters or ‘doubtful voters’. The Election Commission said 10,56,291 names were removed due to deaths, shifting of residence or the presence of multiple entries.
D-Voters are individuals in Assam who have been disenfranchised on account of alleged lack of proper citizenship credentials. Such voters are identified by special tribunals under the Foreigners Act, 1946, and those declared D-Voters are not issued voter identity cards. However, the Election Commission said all particulars of D-Voters, including name, age and photograph, have been carried forward in the draft electoral rolls without any change.
The draft rolls were published after a house-to-house verification exercise conducted between November 22 and December 20 as part of the Special Revision. During this period, verification was carried out in 61,03,103 households across the state.
Voters can now file claims and objections till January 22, following which the final electoral rolls will be published on February 10, the Commission said.
Of the total deletions, 4,78,992 names were removed due to deaths, 5,23,680 voters were found to have shifted from their registered addresses, while 53,619 demographically similar entries were identified for correction.
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The exercise involved 35 District Election Officers, 126 Electoral Registration Officers, 1,260 Assistant Electoral Registration Officers, 29,656 Booth Level Officers and 2,578 BLO Supervisors. Political parties deployed 61,533 Booth Level Agents to assist and monitor the verification process.
While a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls is currently underway in 12 states and Union Territories, including Kerala, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal, where elections are due along with Assam, the Election Commission ordered a Special Revision specifically for the northeastern state.
Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar had earlier said, “Under the Citizenship Act, there are separate provisions for citizenship in Assam. Under the supervision of the Supreme Court, the exercise of checking citizenship is about to be completed.” Officials said the Special Revision falls between the annual special summary revision and a full SIR.
The Election Commission said the exercise aims to prepare an error-free electoral roll by enrolling eligible voters, correcting clerical errors, removing names of deceased persons, shifting electors and deleting multiple entries. Assam now has 31,486 polling stations following rationalisation.
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