Ghaziabad: Election officials in Ghaziabad and GB Nagar are stepping up voter enrolment ahead of the publication of the draft electoral roll on Nov 12. Ghaziabad will hold special registration drives on Oct 24 and 25, while GB Nagar will organise another camp on Oct 24, after a similar exercise earlier this month.The draft roll is part of the special summary revision of electoral rolls, with Jan 1, 2027, as the qualifying date, and the final roll is due to be published on Jan 4.The drives are aimed at first-time voters, women and other eligible residents whose names are missing from the rolls. Booth-level officers (BLOs) will be stationed at designated polling stations to help applicants fill Form 6, which is used to seek inclusion in the voter list.In Ghaziabad, the drive will cover all five Assembly constituencies. Electoral registration officers (EROs), assistant EROs, supervisors and BLOs will facilitate registration and explain the application procedure and the documents required for enrolment.“The initiative is intended to ensure that no eligible citizen is left out of the electoral roll because of a lack of awareness or difficulties in applying,” said Anjani Kumar Singh, deputy district election officer. Singh said the drives are part of efforts to bring eligible voters into the electoral process.In GB Nagar, the Oct 17 drive covered all three Assembly constituencies of Noida, Dadri and Jewar. Help desks were set up at 2,024 polling locations, where BLOs received applications for inclusion, deletion and correction of electoral entries.Singh had earlier said residents seeking to enrol their names need self-attested photocopies of their photograph, proof of date of birth and residence-related documents. If available, they should also carry the Elector Photo Identity Card (EPIC) number of a family member to facilitate the application process.Form 6 is used for inclusion of a name in the roll, Form 7 for objections to inclusion or requests for deletion, and Form 8 for corrections and other permitted updates to existing entries.Noida recorded 957 Form 6 applications, 15 Form 7 applications and 39 Form 8 applications. Dadri received 1,118 Form 6, 17 Form 7 and 241 Form 8 applications, while Jewar recorded 272 Form 6, 27 Form 7 and 89 Form 8 applications.The district administrations have appealed to eligible residents, particularly young people registering for the first time, to check their enrolment status, approach their BLOs if their names are missing and make use of the special camps.Ghaziabad saw the second-highest deletions in the final SIR rolls, published on April 10, in the state in percentage terms after capital Lucknow (22.9%). While 5.7 lakh names were removed from Ghaziabad’s list, Lucknow saw 9.1 lakh deletions. UP’s electorate was itself downsized by a little over 2 crore voters — a shade less than the population of Sri Lanka.Sahibabad, the state’s largest constituency by population, saw 30.4% deletions that shaved off 3.2 lakh names, the highest for an assembly segment in the state. Noida followed with 23.9% (1.8 lakh) deletions. Across GB Nagar, 3.6 lakh names were removed from the final rolls.The camps are being organised following directions from the Election Commission amid a raging row over deletions from electoral rolls during SIR, which have led to calls for the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar by the Opposition as well as Cockroach Janta Party (CJP).The administration will publicise the registration drive through multiple channels to reach residents in both urban and rural areas. In cities, announcements will be made through loudspeakers mounted on rickshaws, while traditional drum announcements will be used in rural areas.To monitor the exercise, the district election officer will personally supervise arrangements at five polling stations, while the deputy district election officer will inspect 10. Electoral registration officers will visit 10% of polling stations in their respective assembly constituencies. Other officials will also inspect camps to review arrangements and ensure that the drive is conducted according to schedule.
