PANAJI
Goa has emerged among the top States -- ranking at 7th -- in the country in terms of voter roll clean-up, recording over 10 per cent net deletions during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise, in line with the national trend highlighted in a recent report.
According to the Election Commission of India records, Union Territory Andaman and Nicobar Islands recorded the highest deletion rate at 16.6 per cent, followed by States like Uttar Pradesh (13.2 per cent), Gujarat (13.1 per cent), Chhattisgarh (11.3 per cent), West Bengal (10.9 per cent), Tamil Nadu (10.6 per cent) and Goa (10.2 per cent).
During the SIR exercise, as many as 1.39 lakh names were deleted from the electoral roll, including 1,00,042 classified as absent, shifted, dead or duplicate (ASDD) voters, and 39,592 “unmapped electors” whose details could not be matched with earlier SIR records of 2002. With this, the State’s total electorate now stands at 10,57,566. Also another 12,000-odd names were added to the list.
Of the total electorates, 51.6 per cent are female voters.
As per the data, across 12 States, where SIR was held in the first phase, the cumulative net deletion stood at around 5.2 crore votes.
The revision process primarily targeted entries classified as absent, shifted, deceased, or duplicate (ASDD), along with unverified voters. The SIR process was initiated in November, last year.
Despite the large-scale deletions, fresh inclusions were also recorded during the process, contributing to a more refined and updated voter list. Nationally, over 2 crore new voters were added in the second phase of the revision, partially offsetting the deletions.