Ranchi, 5 August

The names of over 43 lakh people were deleted from the voter list as the Election Commission on Wednesday published the draft electoral rolls in Jharkhand after the enumeration phase of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR).

Jharkhand Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) K Ravi Kumar said the state had 2.64 crore voters before the beginning of the enumeration phase of SIR in the state.

After the completion of the enumeration phase, the draft electoral roll features 2.21 voters, he said.

"As on July 29, out of 2,64,63,236 electors, 2,21,01,249 (83.51 per cent) electors have submitted their enumeration forms reflecting an overwhelming participation in the enumeration phase of SIR," Kumar said.

The enumeration exercise for the SIR of electoral rolls began on June 30 and continued till July 29, during which BLOs conducted door-to-door visits to distribute, collect and verify enumeration forms.

As many as 43,61,987 voters, falling under ASDD (Absent, Shifted, Dead, or Duplicate) list, have been removed from the draft rolls.

Of the 43.61 lakh voters, around 7.63 lakh died, 15.92 lakh permanently shifted, 14.50 lakh were untraceable or remained absent during the exercise and 4.38 lakh names were found registered as voters in multiple places, the CEO said.

Besides, around 1.16 voters refused to sign enumeration forms and they did not return their forms to the booth-level officers (BLOs) during the enumeration phase, he added.