Punjab Final Voter List Records 2.01 Crore Electors After SIR

Punjab’s final electoral rolls have recorded 2,01,00,727 voters across the state’s 117 Assembly constituencies following the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise, according to the Chief Electoral Officer’s office. The final list, released on Monday, shows a decline of 13.60 lakh electors, or 6.33 per cent, from the 2,14,61,043 voters registered before the revision. The deletions included deceased voters, people who had permanently shifted out of Punjab, those found absent at their registered addresses and duplicate entries. Chief Electoral Officer Anindita Mitra said 7,97,263 new voters had been added, including first-time and women voters. She said notices were issued to around 34 lakh voters whose records required verification, including 12.80 lakh unmapped electors and 22 lakh voters with discrepancies. Mitra said officials conducted hearings, corrected errors and sought assistance from booth-level agents appointed by political parties. Death certificates were collected for deceased voters, while separate lists of duplicate entries were prepared to ensure transparency. Electoral rolls were also shared with representatives of all seven recognised political parties in the state. Amritsar recorded the highest number of voters restored to the rolls after deletions in the draft list, at 96,971, followed by Ludhiana (76,159), Jalandhar (60,601), Patiala (53,470) and Gurdaspur (51,537). Malerkotla recorded the lowest number at 7,189, followed by Ropar (8,799), Muktsar (10,766), Barnala (12,070) and Mansa (16,128). Amid protests against the SIR exercise in several parts of the country, Punjab’s ruling Aam Aadmi Party and Opposition Congress welcomed the transparency of the process. AAP advocate Ferry Sofat said the concerns raised by the party during the revision were promptly addressed, while Congress representative HS Kingra said all political parties were kept on board at every stage. Shiromani Akali Dal representative Arshdeep Singh Kler said the party had initially expressed apprehensions but acknowledged that the exercise had concluded on a positive note.During the subsequent claims and objections phase, 19 Roll Observers, DEOs, and the CEO conducted extensive field inspections and super-checking. Notices were issued to 35,49,036 electors with unmapped records or discrepancies. The exercise began in Punjab on June 25 and the draft rolls were published on August 13, followed by a period for claims and objections, and hearings on disputed entries until October 8. The next state elections in Punjab are expected to be held early next year.