Haryana completes SIR phase-I; over 33 lakh names left out due to relocation, death, duplication

📌 Summary:

• Haryana completed Phase-I of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls; the names of 33,84,568 electors went unrecorded due to permanent relocation, absence, death or duplicate entries
• The draft electoral roll will be published on July 31, both on the official website and at all designated publication centres
• 20,629 Booth Level Officers (BLOs) distributed enumeration forms to more than 2 crore electors; over 1 crore forms have already been digitised, said Chief Electoral Officer A. Sreenivas
• SIR seeks to purge the rolls of ineligible, duplicate and dead voters, but the scale of proposed deletions raises concerns about wrongful exclusion of genuine electors ahead of elections
• After the draft, a claims-and-objections window allows citizens to seek inclusion/correction before the final roll is notified

🎯 UPSC Relevance: GS2 — Election Commission of India, electoral roll integrity, Representation of the People Act, universal franchise and the risk of disenfranchisement

📝 Prelims Facts:

• SIR = Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls, conducted by the ECI through Booth Level Officers (BLOs)
• Haryana draft roll publication date: July 31; a claims/objections period precedes the final roll
• Over 2 crore electors covered; about 33.8 lakh names flagged for exclusion in Phase-I

🔑 Key Term: Special Intensive Revision (SIR) — a door-to-door re-verification of electoral rolls by the ECI to update entries and remove ineligible or duplicate voters