Ranchi: The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Wednesday released the draft electoral roll for Jharkhand following the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise, with 4.36 million names from the previous voters' list excluded.
The omitted names include deceased voters, duplicate entries, people who have permanently shifted, untraceable voters and individuals who did not sign the enumeration forms.
The Commission clarified that the published list is only a draft electoral roll and not the final roll. Eligible voters whose names are missing can apply for inclusion between August 5 and September 4.
According to the ECI, the SIR exercise was conducted across Jharkhand from June 30 to July 29. During the exercise, 22.10 million of the state's 26.46 million registered voters, accounting for 83.51 per cent of the electorate, submitted their enumeration forms. Booth Level Officers (BLOs) collected the forms through door-to-door visits, while digitally submitted forms were also accepted.
The Commission said a total of 43,61,987 names from the previous electoral roll were not included in the draft list. Among them, 4,38,596 were identified as duplicate entries, while 7,63,903 voters were found to be deceased.
Another 15,92,194 voters were recorded as having permanently shifted to other locations.
Additionally, 14,50,810 names were excluded after the individuals could not be traced during the verification process, while 1,16,484 people were left out after refusing to sign the enumeration forms.
The Election Commission emphasised that voters whose names appeared in the 2026 electoral roll but whose enumeration forms could not be submitted for any reason need not worry. Such eligible voters can submit Form 6, along with the required declaration, between August 5 and September 4 to seek re-inclusion in the electoral roll.
Voters can check their names in the draft electoral roll through the Chief Electoral Officer's website, the Voters' Portal, the ECINet mobile application or by visiting their respective polling stations.
Along with the draft roll, the Commission has also published the ASDD (Absent, Shifted, Dead and Duplicate) list, detailing the names of voters categorised as deceased, duplicate, permanently shifted or untraceable, along with the reasons for their exclusion.
The Commission said the exercise was carried out across all 24 districts with the participation of 81 Electoral Registration Officers, 29,571 Booth Level Officers, an equal number of volunteers and 77,430 Booth Level Agents representing various political parties.
To improve voter convenience, 2,389 new polling stations have been established across the state, taking the total number of polling booths in Jharkhand to 31,892.
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The ECI stressed that no voter's name has been permanently deleted at this stage. Before any deletion is finalised, the concerned individual will receive a notice, be given an opportunity to present their case, and the matter will be decided in accordance with the prescribed procedure.
The final electoral roll will be published on October 7, after the completion of the claims and objections process.
With IANS inputs