The Election Commission of India will release draft voter rolls for four states and union territories on Tuesday following an extensive revision process. The details come mere days after the poll body released data for West Bengal and Tamil Nadu — deleting the names of more than 155 lakh voters in the two states. The stage is now set for a contentious verification phase and sharpened political fault lines ahead of the state Assembly elections in multiple parts of the country.
As per the revised schedule outlined by the EC, draft voter rolls will be released for Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands on December 23. Enumeration was previously scheduled to end on December 11 with draft rolls being published on December 16.
The Special Intensive revision of voter lists is being conducted in 12 states and Union Territories — with the final electoral rolls set to be published in February. The draft rolls of West Bengal, Rajasthan, Goa, Puducherry and Lakshadweep were published on December 16. Days later the Tamil Nadu Chief Electoral Officer announced that EC had dropped the names of 97.37 lakh voters from the draft electoral rolls at the end of the first phase of SIR in the state.
How have the other states fared?
Tamil Nadu leads the list with the names of more than 97 lakh people deleted from the voter list. West Bengal follows with about 58 lakh names missing from the draft list. Rajasthan saw a decline of approximately 44 lakh voters, while Puducherry and Goa reported similar reductions of just over one lakh voters each. Lakshadweep saw a marginal drop of about 1,600 electors.
What comes next for these states?
The updated voter lists will be uploaded onto the official Election Commission website and state-level portals. Voters will need to search for their names in the database to ensure that their names and personal details are accurately recorded. The hearing process for affected voters will begin within a few days. Aggrieved residents can file claims in Form 6 along with a declaration form and supporting documents during the claims and objections window.
Status can be checked online once the draft rolls are published on December 23.
Here are the steps:
- Visit voters.eci.gov.in
- Search for your details using EPIC number or personal details by clicking on ‘Search your name in E-roll’ which appears on the top right side of the website.
- View the entry in the draft electoral roll using your EPIC number
