Following the directives of the Election Commission of India (ECI), the Uttarakhand State Election Commission is set to launch a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the voter list, similar to the ongoing exercise in Bihar. Preparations for the revision have already begun.
Chief Electoral Officer Dr. B.V. Purushottam has urged all political parties to take the process seriously and appoint representatives at each of the 11,733 polling booths across the state. So far, the Election Department has received names of 2,744 Booth Level Officers (BLOs).
Under the exercise, voters in Uttarakhand’s 70 assembly constituencies will be required to check their names in the electoral rolls. Those missing from the list will have to submit the necessary documents to get registered, while names registered elsewhere in the country will need to be removed.
The revision is being implemented on the basis of the 2003 voter list. The ECI has invoked its powers under Section 21 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950, to carry out the process nationwide. It is estimated that nearly 10 crore duplicate or invalid entries may be excluded across India, which the Commission believes will help improve the overall voting percentage.
In Uttarakhand, several instances of duplicate registrations have already come to light, including cases in the Kotdwar assembly constituency where voters’ names were found in multiple places. The Commission has stressed that every voter’s name must appear on only one booth’s list anywhere in the country.
