CHANDIGARH: After the extended deadline for digitising Special Intensive Revision (SIR) enumeration forms ended in Haryana on Friday, 33.84 lakh of the state’s 2.07 crore electors (16.38 per cent) have been classified as unverified. The Election Commission of India had extended the deadline by 10 days until July 24.
Among the 23 districts in the state, Gurugram recorded the highest proportion of such electors who are likely to be left out, with one in every three registered voters in the Millennium City unverified, followed by Faridabad.
In all likelihood, these two districts of the state falling in the National Capital Region (NCR) alone could account for nearly 9.7 lakh electorate deletions if the trend continues in urban districts across the state.
However, the final deletions will be carried out only after claims and objections are examined, as the draft voter list will be published on July 31 and the final list on October 3.
The period for filing claims and objections to the draft electoral rolls will remain open from July 31 to August 30. Officials will dispose of all claims by September 28 before publishing the final electoral roll on October 3.
According to a status report released on Thursday evening, enumeration forms of 1.73 crore electors have been digitised out of the total 2.07 crore voters, covering 83.61 per cent of the electorate. The remaining 33.84 lakh electors (16.38 per cent) were found to be absent, shifted, deceased or duplicate during the exercise.
Gurugram recorded the highest proportion of electors likely to be left out. Of its 15.55 lakh electors, enumeration forms of 11 lakh were collected, leaving 4.55 lakh electors (29.27 per cent) out of the draft list as they were marked absent, permanently shifted, dead, enrolled elsewhere or under other categories that make them liable for deletion after the statutory claims and objections process.
Officials said Block Level Officers (BLOs) faced difficulties as a large section of the population lives inside condominiums, where access was not as smooth as in regular residential colonies.
In Gurugram, 96,838 voters were found to have permanently shifted, 50,909 were absent during verification, 17,561 were deceased and 7,217 were already enrolled elsewhere.
After Gurugram, neighbouring Faridabad recorded the second-highest proportion of unverified voters in the state. Enumeration forms were collected for 13.71 lakh of the 18.90 lakh electors, leaving 5.18 lakh electors (27.43 per cent) unverified.
This means that the two NCR districts bordering the national capital alone could account for nearly 9.7 lakh electorate who may be removed from the revised rolls.
After Gurugram and Faridabad, Panchkula, which shares its border with the Union Territory of Chandigarh, recorded the highest proportion of unverified voters, with 99,977 electors (23.29 per cent) left out of the 4.29 lakh electors.
The trend continued in other urban districts across the state. In Sonepat, 2.37 lakh electors (19.38 per cent) were left out of 12.22 lakh electors. In Panipat, 1.82 lakh electors (18.86 per cent) are likely to be excluded from the draft list, while Rohtak reported 1.60 lakh (18.76 per cent) and Jhajjar 1.47 lakh (18.04 per cent).
Ambala recorded 1.53 lakh left-out electors (17.24 per cent), while Karnal reported 2.11 lakh (17.20 per cent). In the Muslim-majority Nuh district, enumeration forms of 5.89 lakh electors were digitised out of 6.60 lakh, leaving 71,102 electors (10.78 per cent) out of the draft list. The figures indicate higher population movement in urban and industrial centres.
On the other hand, rural districts of the state recorded much lower figures. Fatehabad reported the lowest proportion of deletions, with 50,629 electors (7.12 per cent) likely to be left out. Mahendergarh recorded 8.5 per cent, Charkhi Dadri 9.4 per cent, Sirsa 9.7 per cent and Bhiwani 9.9 per cent.
