Election Commission revises Maharashtra, Delhi SIR schedule; final voter list to be published on November 4

The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Wednesday (August 19) revised the schedule for the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Maharashtra and Delhi, delaying the publication of the final electoral rolls by nearly a month to November 4.

Revised schedule for Maharashtra SIR

As per the revised schedule, the rationalisation and reorganisation of polling stations in Maharashtra will be completed by August 24, while the draft electoral roll will be published on August 31.

The document collection exercise in Maharashtra concluded on August 17. The process involved house-to-house visits by Booth Level Officers (BLOs) and the collection of enumeration forms from voters. The Election Commission had earlier extended the deadline to allow more time for completing the exercise.

Under the revised schedule, voters will be able to file claims and objections against the draft electoral roll from August 31 to September 30. This is 26 days later than the original schedule, under which the draft roll was to be published on August 5, and claims and objections could be filed until September 4.

The process of issuing notices and disposing of claims and objections will also run from August 31 to October 29. Under the earlier schedule, this process was to be conducted from August 5 to October 3. The final electoral roll will now be published on November 4, instead of the earlier deadline of October 7.

The revised timeline has also pushed back the rationalisation and reorganisation of polling stations. The exercise, originally scheduled to be completed by July 29, will now be completed by August 24.

Delhi SIR schedule revised

The Election Commission also revised the schedule of SIR in Delhi, fixing November 4 for the publication of the final voter list. According to the earlier schedule, the final electoral roll was to be published on October 27.

As per the revised schedule, the draft electoral rolls will be published on August 31 instead of August 24. The period of filing claims and objections by the voters whose names are excluded from the draft rolls has also been changed. The poll officials will dispose of the claims and objections from August 31 to October 29. The door-to-door voter verification exercise under SIR concluded on August 17.

Delhi and Maharashtra are among the states covered in Phase 3 of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR), which was launched on May 14. With the completion of Phase 3, the SIR exercise will have been carried out across the entire country, except for Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.

The SIR exercise, which seeks to update and verify electoral rolls through extensive field verification, has seen several timeline revisions in recent weeks due to administrative and logistical requirements. The Election Commission has been adjusting state-wise schedules to ensure the smooth completion of the revision process.

(With PTI inputs)

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