The Election Commission has directed election authorities in 20 states and Union Territories where the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls has been completed to undertake special drives to enrol eligible voters whose names were left out, along with young and first-time electors.
The figure refers to deletions from the draft rolls and does not mean that all those removed were eligible voters wrongly excluded. District election authorities have been asked to facilitate enrolment, including through field-level assistance. The directive comes amid the removal of around 13 crore names from draft electoral rolls across states and Union Territories during SIR. The special drives will allow eligible electors left out during or after SIR to apply for inclusion through the continuous updation process using Form 6.
“Special drives shall be undertaken by the District Election Officers (DEOs) & Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) for the enrolment of left out and young/first time eligible electors under the process of continuous updation,” CEO West Bengal said in a post on X.
The cases have highlighted the need to distinguish between eligible voters who were inadvertently left out and those whose circumstances require separate verification. “The special drives are intended to ensure that eligible citizens, including young and first-time voters, have an opportunity to seek inclusion after SIR. Of the 97 cases flagged in the coastal state, six people are abroad and three are Portuguese passport holders, while 88 have been enrolled, according to the figures provided by CEO of Goa.
Their implementation will depend on the ability of electoral authorities to identify omissions, assist applicants and process enrolment requests under the prescribed rules,” a person familiar with the matter said.
