Nearly 10 lakh Hyderabad voters remain untraceable in SIR
HYDERABAD: Nearly 10 lakh voters in Hyderabad district remain untraceable during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
Of the district’s 47,36,669 voters, officials have been unable to trace 9,95,315 electors, accounting for about 21% of the electorate. Some of them have died, while officials have no information on the whereabouts of the others.
Officials believe some voters may have moved to other places, while others who had migrated to Hyderabad may have subsequently left the city.
The deadline for submission of voter enumeration forms is August 10, leaving scope for the numbers to change. The number of untraceable voters could increase or decrease as the exercise progresses.
After excluding deceased electors, officials have placed the remaining voters whose whereabouts could not be established in the untraceable category.
Jubilee Hills Assembly constituency has the highest number of such voters at 88,933, while Amberpet has the lowest at 38,208.
Enumeration form digitisation reaches only 57.56%
Despite house-to-house visits by officials and appeals to political parties and their agents, only 27,26,655 voters have filled in and returned their enumeration forms.
Their details have been digitised, taking digitisation to 57.56%.
With only a few days remaining before the deadline, officials are uncertain how many more voters will return their forms. The deadline for submission has already been extended twice, according to the source copy.
Another 4,91,286 voters, or 10.37% of the district’s electorate, have filled in their enumeration forms online.
Hyderabad proposes changes to polling station network
Officials have proposed shifting polling stations located in 94 buildings following directions from the Election Commission of India that polling booths should not be located in politicians’ houses, religious premises or other sensitive locations.
The proposals were explained at a meeting with representatives of political parties.
Officials have also identified 39 polling stations whose nomenclature needs to be changed.
As part of polling station rationalisation, 71 stations with relatively few voters have been proposed for merger with other polling stations or closure. Four new polling stations are proposed in areas with a high concentration of voters.
The rationalisation exercise will reduce the number of polling stations in Hyderabad district by 67, from 4,062 to 3,985.
