Over 1.66 cr voters struck off rolls ahead of Lok Sabha polls: EC informs SC

At the same time, more than 2.68 crore new voters were added taking the total number of eligible voters in the general elections to nearly 97 crore

The Election Commission of India (ECI) has struck off more than 1.66 crore names from the electoral roll in the annual revision carried out ahead of the Lok Sabha polls to be held later this year, the poll watchdog informed Supreme Court.

The figures were shared by the Election Commission through an affidavit on February 2 in the Supreme Court. (Representative file photo)

At the same time, more than 2.68 crore new voters were added taking the total number of eligible voters in the general elections to nearly 97 crore.

The revision of roll was conducted across the country barring six states of Assam, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Mizoram and Telangana.

The figures were shared by the Election Commission through an affidavit on February 2 in the Supreme Court which is hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by Samvidhan Bachao Trust seeking effective steps to detect and remove duplicated names in the electoral roll.

A bench headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud on Monday asked the commission to produce a break-up indicating dead voters, those permanently shifted and deletion on account of duplication and posted the matter for further hearing on February 12.

The EC affidavit filed through advocate Amit Sharma said, “The special summary revision (SSR) of electoral roll with regard to January 1, 2024, as qualifying date is completing on February 8, 2024. During this period of SSR till date, a total of 2,68,86,109 new electors have been enrolled in the electoral roll and 1,66,61,413 existing entries have been deleted on account of dead, duplicate and permanently shifted voters.

The panel further stated that till date, there are 96,82,54,560 electors in the electoral roll of the country of which over 1.83 crore are in the age group of 18-19 years who will be voting for the first time in the general elections.

The annual SSR is conducted once every year for publishing the electoral roll as on January 1 of that year.

The SSR 2024 was ordered in all states except in Assam due to ongoing delimitation exercise and in the five states of Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Mizoram, Rajasthan and Telangana where assembly elections just concluded.

“The SSR is the last annual revision of roll before the upcoming Lok Sabha elections,” the affidavit said, while adding that during an election year, a second SSR is also held to enable new voters qualifying as on January 1, April 1, July 1 and October 1 to be added to the roll.

The petitioner NGO represented by senior advocate Meenakshi Arora told the Court that the data on deleted entries does not indicate how many were attributable to duplicate entries.

She even produced a communication issued by the chief electoral officer of Uttar Pradesh to district level poll officials on the issue of deletion of electors, which contained columns for dead and shifted but not for duplication.

The EC response stated that there are several stages of revision carried out which includes a house to house survey assisted by booth level agents by the recognised political parties.

This happens as part of the pre-revision exercise. Once the data from the booth level officers and agents is received, a draft electoral roll is prepared following which, the revision exercise begins.