Election Commission deletes 9.97 lakh voters from rolls, 27K from Mumbai

They were taken out for not being present at their registered residential addresses, owing to shifting or deaths.

The Election Commission of India (ECI) has deleted 9.97 lakh voters from the electoral roll for not being present at their registered residential addresses, owing to shifting or deaths.

Though the opposition parties have been demanding that the Election Commission of India switch back to ballot paper regime, itdispatched 37,140 VVPAT machines to 11 districts of Maharashtra. (HT File)

In Mumbai, 27,771 and in Thane, 60,515 voters have been deleted during the summary revision conducted since January 15, 2018.

The ECI published an assembly-wise voters’ list on August 31 after the revision was held by sending booth level officers door-to-door. The revision, which is undertaken once a year, is an important step ahead of the 2019 general elections. The voters deleted will have an opportunity to register their claims and objections till October 31, 2018 inorder to avoid the deletion.

“During our visit, 9.97 lakh voters have been found absent from their registered address and have been proposed to be deleted. The cities have more number of deletions due to the high rate of migration and shifting. Generally, Mumbai suburbs record highest deletion, but this time it is Nashik, which has seen the deletion of 70,591 voters. Since the deletion has been accorded after visiting the houses, there is very little room for errors in the list displayed,” said an official from the ECI.

The ECI has also appealed to the first-time voters in the age group of 18-19 years (including the youths attaining 18 years on January 1, 2019) to register themselves. The voters can register themselves by visiting the polling stations, until October 31.

Though the opposition parties have been demanding that the Election Commission of India (ECI) switch back to ballot paper regime, the ECI has dispatched 37,140 VVPATs (Voter-Verified Paper Audit Trail) to 11 districts of Maharashtra.

The state has asked the ECI for 1,18,500 VVPATs to be used at 95,000 polling booths during the general elections