Nagaland’s SIR draft electoral roll drops by 1.5 lakh, with claims open for electors omitted during enumeration
DIMAPUR — Nagaland’s draft electoral roll has recorded 1,50,751 fewer electors than the pre-Special Intensive Revision (SIR) roll, with the Election office leaving out nearly 1.58 lakh entries during the door-to-door enumeration exercise.
The draft roll published on Sunday contains 12,06,457 electors, compared with 13,57,208 before the SIR exercise conducted from August 16 to September 14.
The chief electoral officer (CEO), Nagaland, informed that enumeration forms were collected from 11,99,456 electors, accounting for 88.38% of the pre-SIR electorate.
The remaining 1,57,752 entries were not covered by the collection of enumeration forms. These comprise 1,23,749 electors categorised as absent, permanently shifted or others; 28,944 identified as deceased; and 5,059 duplicate or multiple enrolments.
The figures do not, however, mean that all these electors have been permanently removed from the rolls. The Election office has opened a month-long claims and objections period from September 20 to October 20, allowing eligible electors to seek inclusion or correction.
The absent, shifted and other category includes people whom booth level officers (BLOs) could not find, as well as those who may have enrolled in another state or Union territory, failed to submit their forms by the September 14 deadline, or did not wish to register as electors.
The election authorities also identified 28,944 names as belonging to deceased electors and 5,059 entries as duplicate enrolments. In the latter cases, the name will be retained at only one place in the electoral roll.
The draft roll comprises 6,80,747 male and 6,83,462 female general electors, along with 7,001 service electors.
The CEO’s office has stressed that genuine electors who could not submit their enumeration forms during the prescribed period can still seek inclusion. They can submit Form-6 along with the prescribed declaration to the electoral registration officer (ERO), assistant electoral registration officer (AERO) or BLO, or apply online through the Election Commission’s voter services portal and ECINET mobile application.
The department has also made available booth-wise lists of absent, shifted, dead and duplicate electors whose names have not appeared in the draft roll. These can be checked at ERO/AERO offices and polling stations and through the CEO Nagaland website.
The authorities have further clarified that a name cannot be deleted from the draft roll without due process. The concerned ERO/AERO must issue notice, conduct an enquiry and provide the elector an opportunity to be heard before passing an order.
The SIR exercise has also led to an increase in polling stations from 2,361 to 2,399, with 38 new stations created to keep the number of electors per polling station within the prescribed limit and improve accessibility.
The claims and objections process will run until October 20, followed by the notice and disposal phase through November 18. The final electoral roll is scheduled for publication on November 22.
The CEO’s office said political parties participated in the enumeration process through booth level agents (BLAs), with 3,758 BLAs appointed across the state. The Naga Peoples’ Front appointed 1,803, followed by the Congress with 892 and the BJP with 872.
Electors have been advised to inspect the draft roll and use the claims and objections window to address any omission or discrepancy.
JOIN OUR WHATSAPP CHANNEL