The largest electorate in the world – 96.88 crores are registered to vote for the forthcoming General Elections in India. After months long intensive Special Summary Revision 2024 (SSR 2024) exercise and ahead of the General Elections 2024, the Election Commission of India has published the electoral rolls in all States/UTs across the country with reference to 1^st January, 2024 as the qualifying date. This also included successful completion of revision of electoral rolls in Jammu & Kashmir and Assam, following the delimitation of constituencies. The endeavour, undertaken with meticulous planning, coordination and participation of political parties has yielded noteworthy achievements in terms of inclusivity, health and purity of the electoral rolls.

Highlights of the SSR 2024:

• Inclusive Participation: With meticulous planning and coordination, the electoral rolls now boast inclusivity on an unparalleled scale, reflecting the vibrant diversity of India's electorate. As per the finally published electoral roll, a total of over 96.88 crore voters are registered across the country

 

• Gender Parity: Noteworthy in this publication is the remarkable increase in female voter registrations, exemplifying a concerted effort towards gender parity and inclusivity within the electoral framework. The Electoral Roll gender ratio has surged positively, indicating the growing role of women in shaping the democratic fabric of the nation. Over 2.63 crore new electors have been included in the electoral roll, out of which around 1.41 crore are female electors which surpassed the newly enrolled male voters (~ 1.22 crore) by over 15%.
• Gender Ratio increases from 940 in 2023 to 948 in 2024.

 

 

• Youth Engagement: More than 2 crore young electors, spanning the 18-19 and 20-29 age groups, have been added to the electoral roll. Special Assistant Electoral Registration Officers (AEROs) were appointed at the constituency level to facilitate youth enrolment directly from educational institutions, fostering greater civic engagement among the younger populace.

• Empowering PwD Electors: A commendable effort has been made to support Persons with Disabilities (PwD) by flagging around 88.35 lakh PwD electors in the electoral roll database, ensuring accessibility and inclusivity on polling day.
• Advance Applications to 17+ youth: A total of over 10.64 lakh advance applications have been received with reference to three subsequent qualifying dates of the year i.e. 1^st April, 1^st July & 1^st October, these advance applications shall be disposed of in the relevant quarters.
• Rigorous scrutiny: After thorough house-to-house verification, names of 1,65,76,654 deceased, permanently shifted, and duplicate electors have been deleted from the electoral rolls. This comprehensive cleanup ensures the integrity and purity of the electoral process. It includes 67,82,642 dead voters, 75,11,128 permanently shifted/absent voters and 22,05,685 duplicate voters.
• Focus on Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups: Special endeavours have been undertaken to achieve 100% registration of Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTG), making the electoral rolls the most inclusive to date.

Quantitative comparison of country wide final roll with data of draft roll is given below:

Parameter	Draft Electoral Roll	Final Electoral Roll (as on 08.02.2024)
Total registered electors	95,73,52,077	96,88,21,926
Male Electors	49,26,32,344	49,72,31,994
Female Electors	46,46,80,073	47,15,41,888
Third Gender Electors	39,659	48,044
PwD Electors	82,32,167	88,35,449
Electors under 18-19 age group	1,16,48,090	1,84,81,610
Electors under 20-29 age group	17,81,14,233	19,74,37,160
80+ Electors	2,07,84,776	1,85,92,918
Centenarian (100+) Electors	6,02,798	2,38,791
Electors/Population ratio	65.99	66.76
Gender Ratio	943	948

 

The Commission has also successfully completed revision of electoral rolls in Jammu & Kashmir and Assam, following the delimitation of constituencies. Electoral Roll data for the states of Jammu & Kashmir and Assam            is given below:

Parameter	Assam		Jammu & Kashmir
	Draft E-Roll	Final E- Roll	Draft E-Roll	Final E- RollF
Total registered electors	2,38,81,193	2,43,01,960	85,48,217	86,94,992
Male Electors	1,20,26,586	1,21,79,358	43,74,994	44,35,750
Female Electors	1,18,54,219	1,21,22,188	41,73,070	42,59,082
TG Electors	388	414	153	160
Electors/Population ratio	62.57	63.67	58.64	59.64
Gender Ratio	986	995	954	960

 

This significant achievement underscores the resilience and vibrancy of India's democratic ethos, symbolizing a collective commitment to upholding the principles of free and fair elections. As the nation gears up for the General Elections 2024, this inclusive and diverse electoral roll stands as a testament to the strength of democracy and the unwavering spirit of civic participation among its citizens.

Background:

Article 324 of the Constitution of India as well as the Representation of the People Act, 1950 mandates the Election Commission of India for the preparation and maintenance of electoral rolls for each constituency.

Keeping in view the upcoming Lok Sabha elections 2024, the Commission, with the intention of achieving high fidelity electoral rolls, on 29^th May, 2023 ordered to conduct Special Summary Revision (SSR) of electoral rolls with reference to 1^st January, 2024 as the qualifying date in all the states and UTs (for the five recently poll gone states and Assam, where delimitation of constituencies has taken place, SSR with separate schedule has been conducted and finished on Feb 8, 2024 with publication of rolls in these states)

The Commission firmly believes that inclusive, healthy, pure & transparently prepared electoral rolls are the foundation of free, fair and credible election. It has been the priority of the Commission that no eligible citizen is deprived of their right to be included in the electoral roll and also to maintain electoral rolls error free & without any duplicate and ineligible entries, to the extent possible. 

Special emphasis was given on pre-revision activities, including training of all the field officials involved in the SSR activities and the intensive House-to-House verification by the Booth Level Officers (BLO). The activity of House-to-House visit was carried out by the BLOs during the pre-revision period to identify all un-enrolled eligible citizens, prospective electors with reference to the subsequent qualifying dates, multiple entries/dead electors/permanently shifted electors and for the correction of entries in the electoral roll. Instructions were also issued to the electoral machinery for the identification and deletion of dead/permanently shifted/duplicate electors.

Focus areas in the preparation of Electoral Rolls:           

• Transparency
• Purity
• Health
• Inclusivity

 

In view of the upcoming general elections the Commission had directed all electoral officials to take all out efforts to chalk out a plan to achieve the objective of pure, inclusive and healthy electoral roll. The measures taken are as follows:

 

1.       Transparency Measures

• Frequent and regular meetings with political parties at various stages of SSR at the level of Chief Electoral Officers, District Election Officers and Electoral Registration Officers.   
• Sharing of copies of draft and final Electoral Rolls to recognized political parties free of cost.
• Inviting, publicising and regular updation of the list of claims and objections to all political parties on the websites and ERO’s notice board
• Deletions were made strictly in accordance of SoPs and after due verification of Form 7 and field verification.

 

2.       Purification

• Deletion of duplicate/multiple entries.
• Deletion of names of dead voters.
• Removal of discrepancies in EPICs.
• Enhancing image quality of photos of electors in ER.

3.       Improve health of the electoral roll.

Special efforts to bridge gaps in the following parameters

• Electors/Population ratio
• Gender ratio
• Age Cohort (specially the 18-19 & 19-20 age groups)

4.       Inclusivity:

• Identification of PwDs in the electoral database to facilitate PwD voters on poll day.
• Special emphasis on the enrolment of youth right from educational institutions.
• Targeted drives to increase enrolment of female electors to improve Electoral gender ratio.
• Focused strategy for the increasing enrolment among Third Gender community.
• Special efforts for 100% enrolment of Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTG).

Election Commission of India acknowledges the dedication of all members of electoral machinery and cooperation provided by the citizens, political parties and all stakeholders in successful conduct of Special summary Revision of Electoral Rolls-2024. Any unenrolled eligible citizens still have the chance to get themselves enrolled under continuous updation up to the last date of making nomination during elections. 

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RP

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