EC removes over 43 lakh names from Jharkhand draft electoral rolls after SIR

The Election Commission on Wednesday, August 5, published the draft electoral rolls for Jharkhand following the completion of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR), with the names of more than 43 lakh voters removed from the electoral list.

Jharkhand Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) K Ravi Kumar said the state had 2,64,63,236 electors before the enumeration phase began. Following the exercise, the draft electoral roll now includes 2,21,01,249 voters.

According to the CEO, 2,21,01,249 electors, or 83.51 per cent of the total electorate, submitted their enumeration forms during the exercise conducted between June 30 and July 29.

The enumeration drive involved Booth Level Officers (BLOs) carrying out door-to-door visits to distribute, collect and verify enumeration forms.

Kumar said 43,61,987 names were deleted from the draft rolls under the ASDD (Absent, Shifted, Dead or Duplicate) category.

Of those removed, 7.63 lakh voters were reported dead, 15.92 lakh had permanently shifted, 14.50 lakh were untraceable or remained absent during the verification exercise, and 4.38 lakh were found to have been registered as voters at multiple locations.

The CEO also said that around 1.16 lakh electors refused to sign the enumeration forms and did not submit them to the Booth Level Officers during the enumeration phase.