Gangtok: Sikkim’s electorate has fallen by 52,551, or 11.16 per cent, following the Special Intensive Revision (SIR), with the Final Electoral Roll containing 4,18,467 voters against 4,71,018 before the exercise.
Chief Electoral Officer Raj Kumar Yadav said the nearly three-month-long revision was completed on Monday after verification, hearings and disposal of claims and objections.
“This was an exercise of nearly three months, which has been completed today. I would like to thank all the DCs, EROs, political parties, BLOs and all the electors who participated in this process,” Yadav said at a press briefing at the CEO’s office in Baluwakhani.
The Draft Electoral Roll published on July 5 had 4,33,294 electors, 37,724 fewer than the pre-SIR figure. A further 14,827 electors were removed net of additions between the Draft and Final Rolls.
Of the 4,71,018 electors on the pre-SIR roll, Enumeration Forms were received from 4,33,242, or 91.99 per cent. Forms were not received from 37,737 electors.
These cases included 10,837 deceased electors, 8,648 absent or untraceable electors, 14,603 who had permanently shifted, 2,396 duplicate or already-enrolled cases and 1,253 falling under other categories.
Of the 4,33,294 electors on the Draft Roll, 3,61,159, or 83.35 per cent, were mapped with their own or their parents’ electoral details in the previous qualifying roll or last SIR. The remaining 72,135 were unmapped.
The Election Commission’s IT system also identified 52,384 Logical Discrepancy cases among mapped electors. Together, the unmapped and discrepancy categories resulted in 1,24,519 notices being issued.
Yadav said the cases were decided after notices, hearings and examination of the required documents and BLO undertakings, rather than solely on the basis of computer-generated discrepancies.
During the claims and objections period from July 5 to August 4, the authorities received 2,052 Form 6 applications for new enrolment, 16,867 Form 7 objections and 1,549 Form 8 applications for corrections or shifting.
After verification, 1,982 electors were added and 16,809 were deleted.
The final electorate comprises 2,12,534 males, 2,05,931 females and two third-gender electors.
Gangtok sees sharpest decline
The impact of the revision varied across the state. Gangtok recorded the highest number of deletions at 7,143, followed by Namchi with 3,504, Pakyong with 2,753, Gyalshing with 1,571, Soreng with 954 and Mangan with 884.
Gangtok also recorded the largest percentage decline, with its electorate falling from 1,22,240 before SIR to 1,01,302 in the Final Roll — a reduction of 20,938, or 17.13 per cent.
Gyalshing recorded the lowest overall decline at 8.34 per cent.
More polling stations despite smaller roll
The reduction in the electorate has coincided with an expansion of polling infrastructure.
Sikkim had 572 polling stations before SIR. Another 53 were created before publication of the Draft Roll, taking the total to 625 — an increase of more than nine per cent.
The revision has also created an appeal mechanism for voters aggrieved by decisions of Electoral Registration Officers.
As of September 6, 111 online and 103 offline appeals had been received by the district-level appellate authority. Of these, 91 online and 96 offline appeals had been disposed of, leaving 27 pending.
At the CEO level, 42 offline appeals had been received, of which six had been disposed of and 36 remained pending. No online appeals had been received at that level.
Yadav urged voters whose names may have been deleted or whose details require correction to use the available verification and appeal mechanisms.
“Perhaps people are not aware that they can file an appeal. I would therefore request those people who are not aware of this facility to make use of it. The cases will be heard,” he said.
The Final Electoral Roll is available for public inspection at polling stations and the offices of EROs and AEROs, as well as online through the CEO Sikkim website and the ECINET app.
The final figures show a substantial contraction of Sikkim’s electoral roll following the SIR, even as polling infrastructure has expanded. The roll remains subject to statutory appeals and corrections for those who believe their names have been wrongly excluded.
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