EC releases draft electoral roll in Andhra Pradesh

Metro India News | AMARAVATI

The Election Commission of India (ECI) has released the draft electoral roll for Andhra Pradesh following the completion of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise, with nearly 45 lakh voter names deleted from the rolls across the state. State Chief Electoral Officer Vivek Yadav said the deletions were made after verification identified voters who had died, permanently migrated, or were enrolled in more than one constituency.

According to the CEO, 22.30 lakh names were removed as the voters had permanently shifted residence or were no longer available at their registered addresses. Another 15.22 lakh names belonged to deceased voters, while 7.37 lakh duplicate registrations were deleted from the electoral rolls. The revision exercise was conducted across all Assembly constituencies between June 15 and July 24.

Of the state’s 4,16,27,694 registered voters, Booth Level Officers (BLOs) collected enumeration forms from 3.71 crore electors, accounting for 89.22% of the electorate. The remaining 44.89 lakh voters could not be covered due to reasons such as migration to other states, absence from their registered addresses, non-submission of enumeration forms or unwillingness to continue as registered voters.

The Chief Electoral Officer clarified that eligible voters whose names have been deleted need not be concerned, as they have been provided an opportunity to restore their names to the electoral roll. Claims and objections will be accepted from July 31 to August 30, during which eligible voters can submit Form 6 along with the prescribed declaration to seek re-enrolment. In cases of multiple registrations, the voter will be allowed to retain registration at only one location of their choice.

To facilitate public verification, the list of deleted voters has been displayed at the offices of Electoral Registration Officers (EROs), Assistant Electoral Registration Officers (AEROs), village panchayats and municipal offices across all 175 Assembly constituencies. The lists are also available on the websites of the Chief Electoral Officer and the respective District Election Officers.

Officials said claims and objections received during the revision period will be scrutinised between July 31 and September 28, following which the final electoral roll will be published on October 3.

Vivek Yadav appreciated the coordinated efforts of District Election Officers, EROs, AEROs, BLO supervisors and 46,397 Booth Level Officers in conducting the large-scale exercise. He also noted the active participation of recognised political parties, pointing out that the number of Booth Level Agents (BLAs) had increased from 68,868 in the previous revision to 1,27,868 during the current exercise.