Most electoral-roll deletions in SIR marked absent, shifted or other
Election Commission data show that about 9.5 crore of nearly 13.3 crore names deleted during India’s special intensive revision were placed in the absent, shifted or other category. The figures have intensified demands from civil society and Opposition parties for deleted names to be restored.
Around 9.5 crore, or more than 71%, of the nearly 13.3 crore names deleted from electoral rolls during India’s special intensive revision have been classified as absent, shifted or other, according to Election Commission data cited by The Hindu. About 2.7 crore names, or just over 20%, were removed because the voters were recorded as dead. Approximately 1.01 crore, representing 7.6%, were identified as multiple entries.
The figures mean that many of those placed in the absent, shifted or other category could potentially return to the rolls after the revision is completed. The source says such people may use Form 6, normally intended for fresh voter registration, to seek re-enrolment. In the first two phases, covering Bihar and 12 other States and Union Territories, around five crore of the 7.2 crore deleted names were in the absent, shifted or other category.
About 1.6 crore were recorded as dead and approximately 52 lakh were treated as multiple entries. The third phase recorded 4.5 crore names in the absent, shifted or other category, 1.1 crore deaths and 49.6 lakh multiple entries. The total deletion in that phase was 6.1 crore.
Around 1.4 crore voters were added to the rolls in the final lists for the first two phases. However, there is no cumulative figure showing how many were newly registered and how many were restored after deletion. The final cumulative list for the third phase is awaited.
Civil society groups and Opposition parties have demanded that the revision be scrapped and all deleted names restored. The Congress, after a Working Committee meeting on September 29, called for all 13.3 crore names to be added back and announced nationwide agitations with INDIA bloc partners. The third phase covers 20 States and Union Territories.
The exercise has been conducted across the country except Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh; Assam underwent a special revision instead because of legal issues linked to the National Register of Citizens.
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