NEW DELHI, Dec 13: In order to ensure that draft electoral rolls published during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision of voters’ lists are largely error-free, the Election Commission has appointed special roll observers (SROs) in eight States.
The commission has also asked Chief Electoral Officers of all States and Union Territories to share the list of absent, shifted/dead and duplicate (ASD) voters with booth-level agents of political parties prior to the publication of the draft rolls.
Nearly five lakh booth-level officers (BLO) of all the 12 States and Union Territories, where the SIR is currently under way, are holding booth-wise meetings with the more than 12 lakh BLAs of political parties to hand over the ASD lists to them.
The BLO marks voters “absent, shifted or dead/duplicate” after three or more visits to their houses. This is to ascertain the exact status of each such elector on the ASD list, so that any error can be rectified before the publication of the draft electoral rolls itself, a senior ECI official said.
Even after publication of the draft electoral roll, the ASD list will be made available on the websites of the respective District Election Officers/District Magistrates (district-wise) as well as on the website of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO). This will also be available in an EPIC-searchable mode.
Apart from this, the special roll observers (SROs) appointed in eight States with a large voter base – West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan – have already begun their work. They are expected to be present two days a week in these States until the final electoral rolls are published in February 2026. They will conduct meetings with the State-level and district-level leadership of all the national and State political parties.
The SROs will also attend meetings with the CEOs and DEOs of the States either physically or virtually to ensure that the entire process is completed in a smooth, transparent and participatory manner. The draft lists for the 12 States and Union Territories are scheduled to be published between December 16 and December 31.
(Manas Dasgupta)
