Ranchi: A sharp rise in objections to electoral roll entries under the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) has been recorded across the state, with 7,650 Form 7 applications digitised on Nov 12, the day on which the home-to-roll drive concluded.Chief electoral officer K Ravi Kumar said the outreach campaign could lead to the addition of around 9–10 lakh voters to the electoral roll. The daily Form 7 figure was a significant jump from the 141 applications digitised on Nov 10, taking the cumulative number of objections to 1,07,708 till Nov 12.Form 7 is used to raise objections to existing electoral roll entries. The bulletin, however, did not provide a break-up of objections relating to deceased, permanently shifted or duplicate electors. It also did not specify how many applications had been accepted.Kumar said camps, meetings between booth level officers (BLOs) and booth level agents-2 (BLA-2) of political parties, and door-to-door visits had helped officials reach eligible voters.He said Jharkhand’s outreach had been more successful than similar exercises in other states, citing Odisha as an example where additions were considerably lower. The projected addition of 9–10 lakh voters, however, is only an estimate and not the final count of approved applications.The issue of missing voters has gained significance in light of instructions issued by the CEO on Nov 3. Officials were asked to examine unresolved cases individually, particularly those involving electors who had not completed hearing formalities despite two notices and a visit by the BLO.If an elector remains untraceable and no contact source is available, the electoral registration officer or assistant ERO may initiate deletion proceedings under existing legal provisions after recording the reasons. Electors temporarily away for education or employment may instead be contacted by phone or video call. Their relatives may also submit documents on their behalf, provided the process is properly recorded.The state digitised 11,766 applications across four forms on Nov 12, taking the cumulative total to 16,29,673. Meanwhile, 17,54,618 verification cases remained pending till Nov 12.Claims and objections received by Oct 31 must be disposed of by Nov 23. The final electoral roll is scheduled to be published on Nov 30.
