Jharkhand begins household-level drive for voter list revision, BLO stickers to aid verification

Ranchi — Jharkhand has intensified preparations for the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the voter list, with Chief Electoral Officer K. Ravi Kumar directing district officials to complete all pre-revision work within a fixed timeline. He stressed that the exercise aims to create an accurate, transparent and error-free electoral roll, ensuring that no eligible voter is left out.

At a review meeting with deputy electoral officers from all districts, Kumar asked officials to speed up the process of pasting stickers carrying details of the concerned Booth Level Officer (BLO) on every household. These stickers will include the BLO’s name, mobile number and house number, allowing voters to contact them directly. The move is part of an ongoing door-to-door verification drive, under which BLOs are visiting homes to fill out enumeration forms.

He also said that voters whose details could not be mapped from the previous revision to the current list can use the “Book a Call” feature on the ECINet platform to connect with their BLOs. This facility is expected to make corrections and additions to the electoral roll easier.

Officials were further instructed to prepare polling station-wise lists of absent, shifted, deceased and duplicate voters. Special focus will be placed on categorising voters linked to demolished or relocated houses under the “shifted” category. During house mapping, authorities were asked to retain pre-assigned house numbers and assign new ones only when necessary.

Earlier, Kumar also met representatives of recognised political parties and sought their cooperation in the revision exercise. The Election Commission of India has asked parties to expedite the appointment and training of Booth Level Agents to strengthen coordination with BLOs at the grassroots level.

The Commission clarified that lists of absent, shifted, deceased and duplicate voters will be made public only after verification by political party agents through BLOs, a step aimed at removing bogus entries and making the electoral roll more reliable.

With inputs from IANS