Rajasthan: Over 70 pc voters not required to submit documents during SIR

Jaipur, Oct 28 (IANS) In a major update on the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the voter list, 70.55 per cent of Rajasthan’s voters will not be required to submit any documents for verification.

State Chief Electoral Officer Naveen Mahajan said the Election Department has streamlined the process.

“We had already started voter mapping in advance. More than 70 per cent of voters will not need to provide documents from the day SIR is announced,” Mahajan said.

He added that this figure could cross 80 per cent once Booth Level Officers (BLOs) begin door-to-door verification.

As of October 27, Rajasthan has 5,48,84,570 registered voters. After reviewing electoral rolls from 2002 to 2005, the department confirmed that 70.55 per cent of names matched previous SIR records.

Among them, 79.32 per cent of voters aged above 40 years have been entered through the BLO app, while only 22.22 per cent of voters below 40 have been mapped so far.

Rajasthan currently leads among 12 states conducting SIR. The state’s total voter mapping on the Election Commission of India (ECI) Net stands at 49.37 per cent, ahead of Gujarat (5.73 per cent), Uttar Pradesh (13.41 per cent), Madhya Pradesh (20.09 per cent), Tamil Nadu (21.62 per cent), and Chhattisgarh (24.27 per cent).

Mahajan said BLOs will visit each household up to three times to collect the Enumeration Form (EF) from voters.

“If no one is available after three visits, the BLO will leave the form at the house and post a notice,” he explained.

He added that the mapping process has become easier as voter lists from all states are now accessible.

“Earlier, verifying voters from border states was difficult. Now, with national-level voter data, mapping can be done across states,” he said.

He said that the draft SIR voter list will be published on December 9. Names of deceased voters, duplicates, and those who have moved permanently or appear on the list in two places will be removed.

“The deleted names will be made public on the Election Department’s website. Voters whose names appeared in the previous SIR need not provide any documents,” he said.

He said that, however, if the names of parents or grandparents are listed instead, voters will have to submit identity proof.

He added that in case of discrepancies, the Electoral Registration Officer (ERO) will issue notices.

Mahajan warned that having a voter's name in two places is a punishable offence under election law, carrying a one-year sentence.

“Voter list data is now machine-readable across the country, making it easier to detect duplicate entries,” he said.

He pointed out that after the SIR, Rajasthan will have an average of 890 voters per booth, adding that a total of 8,819 new polling booths will be established, taking the statewide total to 61,309 booths.

“Special arrangements have been made for Ghumantu families. BLOs, assisted by volunteers, will distribute and collect voter forms from such groups to ensure complete inclusion,” he said.

--IANS

arc/dan