81 pc of Arunachal voters feature in draft rolls after SIR enumeration
Itanagar, July 21
Arunachal Pradesh on Tuesday published its draft electoral rolls following the completion of the enumeration phase of the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls, with around 81 per cent of the state's 8.87 lakh registered electors completing the enumeration process, officials said.
Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Pawan Kumar Sain said electors whose names do not appear in the draft rolls can apply for inclusion during the claims and objections period from July 21 to August 20.
Releasing the draft rolls, the CEO told representatives of political parties that 7,18,046 electors - around 81 per cent of the state's 8,87,505 registered voters as on June 2 - had submitted their Enumeration Forms by July 14, reflecting strong public participation in the third phase of the SIR exercise.
Sain said the remaining 1,69,459 forms could not be collected due to various reasons, including permanent shifting of electors (8.90 per cent), electors being absent or untraceable (6.16 per cent), deaths (2.88 per cent), duplicate enrolment (0.56 per cent), and other reasons (0.60 per cent). He clarified that genuine and eligible voters left out of the draft rolls can still apply for inclusion during the claims and objections period.
The CEO stressed that the Election Commission's objective is to ensure every eligible elector is included while ineligible entries are removed through a transparent and legally mandated process. He emphasised that no name would be deleted without prior notice and a reasoned order by the Electoral Registration Officer (ERO) or Assistant Electoral Registration Officer (AERO).
Sain informed that the final electoral rolls, after completion of the SIR process, would be published on September 22, 2026.
He said the successful completion of the enumeration phase was the result of coordinated efforts by election officials across the state, including District Election Officers (DEOs) of all 26 districts, 60 EROs, 206 AEROs, 248 Booth Level Officer Supervisors, and 2,233 Booth Level Officers (BLOs), with support from volunteers.
He also acknowledged the active participation of recognised political parties, noting that 3,131 Booth Level Agents (BLAs), appointed by parties along with their district presidents, assisted in the successful conduct of the enumeration process.
— IANS
Reader Comments
At last! Transparent process with notices before deletion. Many states don't do this. But the 8.9% who shifted permanently - how will they vote? Need better voter portability across states. Jay Hind! 🇮🇳
Respect to the 2,233 BLOs who did the ground work in such tough terrain. Arunachal is no easy place for door-to-door verification. Government should give them incentives. And 3,131 BLAs from political parties shows democracy is alive and kicking! 👏
Election Commission's claim of "no deletion without notice" is good in theory. But in practice, many in villages may not receive notices. Need to ensure local announcements too. Also, SIR every three years is too long - should be annual for border states. Just my two paise.
SIR is crucial for Arunachal given its border sensitivity. Every vote matters. But why are 6.16% untraceable? That's a red flag. Either BLOs didn't try enough or people are moving undocumented. Either way, fix this before final rolls. Elections can't be a guessing game!
Good to see political party involvement with BLAs. But 2.88% deaths still on rolls shows lax updating. Families need to inform BLOs promptly. Overall, 81% enumeration is a decent start - let's aim for 95%+ by September. Every missing voter is a voice unheard.
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