Ranchi: Urban voters are responding strongly to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, but a key trend emerging from the latest data is the rush to correct or shift existing entries rather than enrol afresh.The SIR bulletin, with figures till Monday, shows Ranchi district received 39,569 Form-6 applications for inclusion of names and an almost equal 38,235 Form-8 applications for changes to existing entries. Form-7 applications, used for objections and deletions, stood at just 120.The trend is most pronounced in Hatia, which received 15,765 Form-8 applications — nearly twice the 8,173 Form-6 requests. On Monday alone, the constituency recorded 911 Form-8 applications against 255 Form-6 submissions.Form-8 is used for shifting residence, correcting details and making other changes to an existing electoral roll entry.Kanke received 7,678 Form-8 applications against 6,565 Form-6 submissions. Ranchi assembly constituency recorded 3,697 Form-8 and 5,335 Form-6 applications.A similar pattern has emerged in other urban centres. Dhanbad reported 18,720 Form-8 applications against 11,224 Form-6 requests. Jamshedpur West recorded 7,682 Form-8 and 9,345 Form-6 applications, while Jamshedpur East received 5,010 and 5,726, respectively.Chief electoral officer (CEO) K Ravi Kumar attributed the high number of Form-8 applications in urban areas to migration, shifting of residences and construction of new houses, which often leave members of the same family registered at different polling stations.“All electors should be enrolled at the polling station of their polling area, but some family members are enrolled at different polling stations. Because of migration, shifting of residence and construction of new houses, there are a large number of Form-8 applications in urban areas to bring all family members to one polling station,” Kumar said.The contrast with rural constituencies is sharp. Tamar received 3,020 Form-6 applications against 1,620 Form-8 submissions, while Mandar recorded 6,440 Form-6 and 3,310 Form-8 applications.With the claims and objections period ending on Sept 15, the final week will show the extent to which urban voters are seeking to align electoral records with their current addresses.
