Uttarakhand Final Voter Roll: 9 Lakh Names Removed, 71.59 Lakh Electors Remain

Uttarakhand's final electoral roll, published on Saturday, carries 71.59 lakh electors, after around nine lakh names were removed during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the State's voter list.

Deletions during the exercise were offset by fresh enrolments, leaving the roll about eight lakh smaller than the 79,60,762 electors registered when the SIR began in June — a decline of nearly 10%. The first draft roll, published on July 14, contained 71,33,785 names. Claims and objections were accepted until August 13, and hearings and disposal of cases continued until September 28, ahead of the publication of the final roll.

Chief Electoral Officer B.V.R.C. Purushottam said the final roll includes 1,29,872 newly enrolled voters.

“Compared with the draft roll published in July, the number of electors has risen by about 25,000, as 1,04,708 names were deleted following claims and objections, while more than 1.29 lakh names were added,” Mr. Purushottam told the media.

The Election Commission has said such revision exercises are carried out to keep the rolls accurate by removing entries of voters who have died, have permanently shifted, or are otherwise ineligible, and to prevent duplicate registration.

Sharing gender-wise details, the official said the final roll comprises 34,21,036 women, 37,37,701 men and 212 third-gender voters. It includes 72,656 voters aged 18-19 and 1,22,892 voters above the age of 80. The State has 12,543 polling stations.

For those left out

Addressing concerns over those who could not make it to the final list, Mr. Purushottam said people who were left out, as well as those who have become newly eligible to vote, can apply by filling Form 6, either online through the ECINet app or offline through their Booth Level Officer (BLO).

The State will now begin a special drive to enrol missing and eligible voters. Under the plan, BLOs will compare the current roll with the pre-SIR list, identify voters who were listed earlier but are now missing, and visit them at home to help eligible people fill Form 6. They will also ensure forms are filled for first-time and young voters, and share the list with booth-level agents of recognised political parties. Electoral Registration Officers will subsequently share booth-wise lists with party representatives. Special camps will also be held in night shelters and labour colonies, as well as for homeless and marginalised communities.

A large number of voters have been placed in the “uncollectable (ASDD)” category. Dehradun recorded the highest number of such voters at 1,86,008, followed by Udham Singh Nagar with 1,77,673 and Haridwar with 1,30,203.

Congress demands details

Senior vice-president of the Uttarakhand Pradesh Congress Committee, Suryakant Dhasmana, expressed dissatisfaction with the final roll and demanded that the Election Commission make public the complete Assembly constituency-wise details of voters whose names were deleted during the pre-SIR and SIR exercises.

“They have deleted over 8.5 lakh names in the final list, while 4.5 lakh names were deleted pre-SIR. This totals to the deletion of 13 lakh names in such a small State,” Mr. Dhasmana claimed.

He alleged that most of the deletions were carried out under what he described as a “vote theft” formula, and claimed that irregularities in Forms 6 and 7 had come to light, following which the Election Commission took a U-turn, raising questions over the entire exercise. He demanded the immediate restoration of the names of all deleted voters to the electoral rolls, stating that the Congress did not accept the additions and deletions carried out during the SIR exercise.