Draft rolls for 5 states, Union Territories to come out today

New Delhi: The draft electoral rolls for five states/Union territories - West Bengal, Rajasthan, Goa, Puducherry and Lakshadweep - undergoing phase 2 of special intensive revision (SIR) are set to be published Tuesday, with sources indicating likely deletions in the range of 7.5-8.5% for all except Lakshadweep, where they may be barely 2.5%.While West Bengal appears set to have around 58 lakh electors removed on account of being dead, permanently shifted, untraceable or registered at multiple places, sources said the number of notices likely to be issued to electors found to have submitted their enumeration form with discrepancies, including not specifying their link to the electoral roll from the last SIR, "may be far, far more than 58 lakh". These discrepancies, by now assessed by booth level officers, are on account of the change in SIR rule that did away with the need for the elector to submit documentation at the enumeration stage, to establish their eligibility for enrolment.Depending on how many of those issued notices can satisfy electoral registration officers of their eligibility with requisite documentation proving their citizenship, the EC will reach the ultimate number of electors to be excluded from the final roll. Sources said the number of dead, shifted, duplicate and untraceable electors identified for deletion in Goa, with a total electorate of 11.8 lakh, may be around a lakh (around 8.5%).

In Rajasthan again, 7.5-8% of the total 5.46 crore electors may be removed. Lakshadweep will see the lowest percentage of electors (2.5% of its 57,813 electorate) being struck off the roll.Officials said the large number of entries of dead, duplicate and shifted voters could be due to a 2010 amendment in Representation of the People Act, which disallowed any amendment or deletion of a roll entry without proper verification. Though the manner of this verification was to be prescribed in the following rules, this was never done. "This is why the dead, shifted and multiple entries have remained in the roll, creating scope for bogus voting," said an official.EC sources told TOI once the draft roll is published, each collector will share its printed and soft copy with the district-level functionaries of parties. The draft roll will also be uploaded on the district election officer's website.