Nearly 45 lakh voters deleted from Andhra Pradesh draft electoral roll after SIR
Amaravati, July 31
Nearly 45 lakh voters have been deleted from the roll in Andhra Pradesh as the Election Commission of India published the draft voter list on Friday, following Special Intensive Revision.
Deleted names include 22.30 lakh who had permanently shifted or were found absent. Names of as many as 15.22 lakh deceased have also been deleted, while 7.37 lakh voters were found enrolled at multiple places.
According to Chief Electoral Officer Vivek Yadav, enumeration forms were collected from 3.71 crore electors (89.22 per cent).
Booth Level Officers (BLOs) did not find remaining electors (44.89 lakh) or did not get back their enumeration forms because they became electors in other states/UTs, or were not found in existence, or did not submit the form till July 24, or were not willing to register as an elector for some reason or other.
SIR was conducted in the state from June 15 to July 24.
As on July 24, out of 4,16,27,694 electors, a total of 3,71,38,182 electors have submitted their enumeration forms, reflecting overwhelming participation during the enumeration phase of SIR, the CEO said.
He made it clear that genuine electors can still be added back to the electoral rolls during the claims and objections period from July 31 to August 30 using Form-6 along with the prescribed declaration form. The name of the electors found enrolled at multiple places in the electoral rolls will be retained only at one place.
The Draft Electoral Roll has been published on Friday (July 31) by the Electoral Registration Officer (ERO) concerned of all 175 Assembly Constituencies of the State.
Booth-wise lists of absent/shifted/death/duplicate electors whose names are not included in the Draft Roll have been displayed on the Notice Board of respective ERO/AERO Offices, Grama Panchayat/Municipal Office Notice Boards, and Polling Stations to enable the general public to have access to the voters lists along with the probable reasons for non-inclusion of their names. These lists have also been put on the CEO's website along with the respective DEO's website.
Claims and objections can be filed from July 31 to August 30. Claims and objections will be disposed of from July 31 to September 28. The final electoral roll will be published on October 3.
According to the CEO, the successful completion of the enumeration phase is the result of coordinated efforts of District Election Officers (DEOs) of all 28 districts, 175 Electoral Registration Officers (EROs), 1,079 Assistant Electoral Registration Officers (AEROs), 4,650 BLO Supervisors and 46,397 Booth Level Officers (BLOs) deployed at 46,397 polling stations.
Representatives of recognised political parties, including their District Presidents, also actively participated, with as many as 1,27,868 Booth Level Agents (BLAs) appointed by them.
At the beginning of the SIR, Andhra Pradesh had 68,868 BLAs. The increased number of BLAs indicates active participation of the political parties and their representatives in this important exercise, he said.
— IANS
Reader Comments
Impressive coordination by the Election Commission — 46,000+ BLOs and over 1.27 lakh booth agents. This is how democracy should work. Hopefully, genuine voters will get added back during the claims period.
Good that they're cleaning up duplicates and deceased entries. But I hope elderly people in villages don't lose their vote due to technical issues — many don't have documents handy. The BLOs should do proper verification before deleting names.
89% participation in enumeration is solid. But 44.89 lakh people not submitting forms is concerning — could be migrant workers or disinterested youth. The EC should run awareness campaigns in the claims period. Still, the process looks fair.
Transparency is key here, and putting the booth-wise lists online and on notice boards is a great move. That said, I genuinely hope the 15.22 lakh deceased deletions don't lead to any issues with families who may have pending pension or other paperwork. Form-6 path should be smooth for genuine cases.
Finally, some accountability! Duplicates and multiple enrolments are a big issue in our country. Kudos to the officials for doing this thorough housekeeping. Voters should use the Aug 30 deadline to check their names.
We welcome thoughtful discussions from our readers. Please keep comments respectful and on-topic.