Why Are Urban Voter Registrations Lagging Behind Rural Areas in India?

Urban vs. Rural Voter Registration Trends

New Delhi: According to officials from the Election Commission, the collection of voter enumeration forms in urban regions is significantly lower than in rural areas during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) across nine states and three Union territories.

The primary reasons for the low return rate of filled forms appear to be the unavailability of electors at home due to work commitments and ongoing migration trends.

In contrast, rural areas have seen a much higher rate of form collection by booth-level officials.

Cities such as Lucknow, Kanpur, and Noida have reported notably low form collection rates, reflecting trends observed in other states where SIR is currently underway.

A similar pattern was noted in Patna during the voters' cleanup exercise in Bihar last year.

Phase II of the SIR commenced on November 4 in regions including Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Gujarat, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Puducherry, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal.

Draft electoral rolls have been published in all states and Union territories except Uttar Pradesh.

In Assam, a distinct 'special revision' of electoral rolls is also taking place.

The last SIR conducted in these states will serve as the reference point, similar to how the 2003 voter list of Bihar was utilized for intensive revision.

Most states last conducted an SIR between 2002 and 2004 and are nearing completion of mapping current electors based on the previous SIR.

The main objective of the SIR is to identify and eliminate illegal foreign migrants by verifying their place of birth, a move that has gained importance amid ongoing crackdowns on illegal migrants from countries like Bangladesh and Myanmar.