CHANDIGARH: A total of 2.01 crore people in Punjab will be eligible to exercise their franchise in the upcoming 2027 Punjab Assembly elections, which are less than four months away.
The final electoral rolls of all 117 assembly segments following the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise were published on October 12.
A total of 7.97 lakh voters have been added to electoral rolls after more than 20 lakh names were deleted from the draft rolls published earlier this year.
Thus, there is a 6.3 per cent reduction in the voter list due to deaths and voters permanently shifting out of the State.
Anindita Mitra, Chief Electoral Officer, Punjab, said that a 6.3 per cent reduction in the voter list was due to deaths, voters permanently shifting out of the state, voters being found absent at their given addresses during the previous SIR survey in 2003, or duplication of votes.
As many as 7,97,263 new voters have been added, which include both young first-time voters and women voters.
"As on June 9, Punjab had 2,14,61,043 registered electors, comprising 1,11,76,866 male, 1,02,83,478 female, and 699 third gender electors. During the House-to-House Enumeration Phase (June 25 to August 3), BLOs distributed enumeration forms to registered electors and collected them. The Draft Electoral Roll was published on August 13 with a total of 1,93,94,435 electors. The copies of the Draft Electoral Roll were handed over to representatives of political parties statewide for their active participation during the Claims and Objection period,’’ she said.
Mitra added that the electorate marked a net increase of 3.64 per cent.
The Final Roll total electors, 2,01,00,727, comprises 1,03,76,026 male, 97,24,195 female, and 506 third gender electors. Notices to 34 lakh voters were issued, and the officials heard them and rectified the errors.
Sources said that when the SIR was started, there were 12.80 lakh unmapped voters (those whose names could not be matched with the 2003 electoral rolls) and there were 22 lakh voters with discrepancies.
Mitra further said that during the claims and objections period (August 13 to September 12), citizens were encouraged to verify their details in the Draft Electoral Roll and submit claims or objections, if any.
Applications were accepted online, through the ECINET Mobile App, offline via BLOs, or at the offices of EROs.
During this phase, CEO Punjab, 19 Roll Observers, and District Election Officers conducted extensive field visits and conducted super-checking of the claims and objections received.
The notice phase or disposal of claims and objections (August 13 to October 8) involved serving notices to unmapped electors and electors with discrepancies.
"Hearings were conducted by EROs/AEROs at the village level, and decisions were taken after verifying documents and BLO reports," Mitra added.
She said that the Final Electoral Rolls are available at the offices of the District Election Officers (DEOs), Electoral Registration Officers (EROs), and with the Booth Level Officers (BLOs).
The rolls can also be downloaded from the official website of the Chief Electoral Officer, Punjab (www.ceopunjab.gov.in) and the citizen service portal (www.voters.eci.gov.in).
Copies of the Final Electoral Rolls of all 117 Assembly Constituencies, along with soft copies, have been handed over to representatives of recognised political parties.
CEO also thanked the representatives of the political parties for their valuable support, especially the 89,395 Booth Level Agents (BLAs) appointed statewide, whose active participation resulted in the successful culmination of this exercise.