Jharkhand SIR: 4.37 Million May Be Dropped, 7 Lakh Dead Voters Found
UPSC / SSC current affairs note · Polity
Why in news
The enumeration phase of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Jharkhand concluded, revealing 4.37 million uncollected forms, including over 7 lakh dead voters. This raises concerns about electoral roll accuracy ahead of the draft publication on August 5.
Background
The SIR is a periodic exercise by the Election Commission to update electoral rolls. In Jharkhand, it began on June 30 with door-to-door visits by Booth Level Officers (BLOs) to distribute, collect, and verify enumeration forms.
Key facts
4.37 million forms remained uncollected during the enumeration phase, including 763,930 belonging to dead voters.
1.59 million forms were for permanently shifted electors, and 1.46 million for absent or untraceable voters.
Ranchi recorded the highest number of dead voters at 94,463, followed by Dhanbad at 61,003 (as of 8 pm on Wednesday).
The enumeration covered 26.46 million registered voters, with nearly 100% digitization of forms.
The draft electoral roll and the Absent, Shifted, Dead and Duplicate (ASDD) list will be published on August 5.
Claims and objections can be filed from August 5 to October 3.
Urban assembly segments accounted for a large share of uncollected forms due to migration.
The ASDD list will be provided to political parties in soft copy and to BLA-2 at polling stations in hard copy.
Prelims pointers
- Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls
- Absent, Shifted, Dead and Duplicate (ASDD) list
- Booth Level Officers (BLOs)
- Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) K Ravi Kumar
- Draft publication date: August 5
- Claims and objections period: August 5 to October 3
- Jharkhand: Ranchi, Dhanbad
Mains angles
- Discuss the significance of electoral roll accuracy in a democracy.
- Examine the challenges of updating electoral rolls in states with high migration.
- Critically evaluate the role of BLOs in the SIR process.