Jharkhand SIR: Over 43 lakh voters deleted in draft electoral rolls

Almost 16.5% of Jharkhand voters’ names have been removed in the draft electoral rolls published by the State Election Commission on Wednesday (August 5, 2026) after the enumeration phase of the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter lists.

Of the 43.6 lakh names that have been remioved, over 7 lakh are dead, over 14 lakh untraceable, and over 15 lakh have permanently shifted away from the State, Jharkhand Chief Electoral Office K. Ravi Kumar told journalists in Ranchi. Another 1.16 lakh voters refused to sign their enumeration forms and did not return them to the Booth Level Officers (BLOs).

“As many as 43,61,987 voters have been removed, falling under the ‘Absent, Shifted, Dead, or Duplicate’ (ASDD) categories,” Mr. Kumar said.

Second chance

He pointed out that eligible electors whose names existed in the 2026 electoral roll but who failed to submit the enumeration form can still be added back to the electoral rolls during the claims and objections phase from August 5 to September 4. They are required to submit Form-6 along with the declaration form.

“The Election Commission of India (ECI) is implementing the SIR of the Electoral Rolls in Jharkhand with a clearly defined objective to ensure inclusion of all the eligible citizens of India in the electoral roll and exclusion of all the ineligible electors from the electoral roll with full transparency at every stage of the process,” Mr. Kumar said.

“As on July 29, out of 2,64,63,236 electors, 2,21,01,249 (83.51%) electors have submitted their enumeration forms, reflecting an overwhelming participation in the enumeration phase of the SIR,” Mr. Kumar said.

Coordinated efforts

He credited the successful completion of this phase to the coordinated efforts of 24 District Electoral Officers (DEOs), 81 Electoral Registration Officers (EROs), 365 Assistant Electoral Registration Officers (AEROs), 63 Additional AEROs, 2,938 BLOs, and supervisors deployed at 29,571 polling stations, supported by volunteers at each polling station.

Field representatives of the State’s nine recognised political parties, including their district presidents, also actively participated, with as many as 77,430 Booth Level Agents (BLAs) appointed by them, he added.

The SIR process formally started in Jharkhand on June 30, with BLOs conducting door-to-door visits across the State to distribute partially filled enumeration forms and verify voter details. This phase continued till July 29.