About five lakh voters in Nagaland are expected to get notices from electoral authorities over discrepancies in mapping their details with the 2005 electoral roll as part of the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR).
Addressing a press conference in Kohima on Monday, a day after publication of the draft electoral roll under SIR, Additional Chief Electoral Officer Awa Lorin said the exercise showed 9.33 per cent of electors under the no-mapping category, and 27.31 per cent as mapping anomalies, together accounting for 36.64 per cent.
Nagaland's draft electoral roll was published on Sunday with nearly 1.59 lakh of the 13.57 lakh voters being excluded.
Electors whose names could not be mapped to the 2005 roll, or who could not establish themselves as a progeny of a person included in the 2005 roll, would be issued notices by the Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) and Assistant Electoral Registration Officers (AEROs), he said.
Such electors would have to produce prescribed documents before the EROs or AEROs, with the number of documents required depending on their date or year of birth, Lorin said.
“If they are satisfied with your claim and your documents, then your name will continue to appear in the final roll,” he said, adding that failure to substantiate the claim or submit the required documents could result in the name not appearing in the final electoral roll, scheduled to be published on November 22.
He clarified that a person who was not registered in the 2005 electoral roll would not be automatically excluded from the present roll and could establish linkage with a person in the 2005 roll or, where applicable, enrol afresh during the claims and objections period.
Chief Electoral Officer Bhagyashree Banayat said the claims and objections period, from September 20 to October 20, would provide an opportunity for genuine electors whose names were inadvertently left out of the draft roll to seek inclusion through Form-6 along with the prescribed declaration and documents.
The same period is available for new eligible voters, including those who attained 18 years of age by the qualifying date of October 1, 2026.
Lorin said camps for hearing would be conducted by EROs at their headquarters, district headquarters or even at the polling-station level, depending on convenience, to facilitate the notice and verification process. The exercise is to be completed by November 18, ahead of final publication of the roll.
He said forms and information related to the SIR were available with BLOs, at election offices and on the CEO's website, while applications could also be filed online.
On Aadhaar being included in the SIR enumeration forms, Banayat said submission of the number in the SIR process is optional and the card by itself is not proof of citizenship.
She clarified that Aadhaar seeding was not being carried out in the electoral roll and that Aadhaar and mobile-number details sought through the enumeration form were voluntary.
Banayat said Nagaland's SIR had identified nearly 1.59 lakh entries as deceased, absent/shifted or enrolled at multiple places.
Of the 13,57,208 electors covered during the enumeration phase from August 16 to September 14, 11,99,456 (88.38 per cent) submitted their Enumeration Forms, she said.
The exercise identified 29,944 deceased electors (2.13 per cent), 1,23,749 (9.12 per cent) absent, permanently shifted or under other categories, and 5,059 (0.37 per cent) enrolled at multiple places, the CEO said.
The absent/shifted/other category includes electors who became voters in other states or Union Territories, could not be found, did not submit their forms by September 14, or were unwilling to register, Banayat said, adding that names found enrolled at multiple places will be retained at only one place.
Among districts, Dimapur recorded 36,629 uncollectable Enumeration Forms, followed by Choumoukedima (28,626), Kohima (24,178) and Wokha (11,500), while a total of 3,297 electors had not returned their Enumeration Forms.
(With inputs from PTI)
