Big relief for Kerala as EC extends SIR deadline to Dec 11; draft list on Dec 16

New Delhi: The Election Commission of India has extended the Special Intensive Revision of the electoral roll in nine states, including Kerala and three union territories on Sunday. Earlier, the Commission had set December 4 as the deadline to complete the digitisation of enumeration forms. As per the revised schedule, the last date to complete this exercise is December 11, and the revised draft list of the electoral roll will be published on December 16. 

With this, the draft list will be published only after the local body polls in Kerala. The elections will be held in the state on December 9 and 11. The results will be announced on December 13. As per the first schedule, the draft roll publication after SIR exercise was fixed on December 9. 

In the revised schedule, the EC noted that the rationalisation or rearrangement of polling stations must be completed by December 11. The updation of the control table and preparation of the draft roll will be carried out from December 12 to 15. Once the EC publishes the draft electoral roll on December 16, voters can file appeals or objections until January 15.

At the same time, Electoral Registration Officers have been instructed to take decisions on enumeration forms and complete the disposal of claims and objections from December 16 to February 7. Following these procedures, the EC will publish the final electoral roll in all nine states and three union territories on February 12.

The Election Commission of India has come under fire after Booth Level Officers (BLOs) assigned to the SIR work complained of excessive workload. The decision to revise the schedule will be a major relief for BLOs who are yet to complete the collection and digitisation of enumeration forms.

During the meeting with the Chief Electoral Officer, political parties in Kerala had protested against conducting the SIR process during the local body polls. The state government and major political parties had also approached the Supreme Court seeking a postponement of the SIR process in Kerala. Now, EC revised the schedule days after the Supreme Court issued a notice to it on a plea filed by Kerala and other states.

Apart from Kerala, second phase of the SIR exercise is being held in Chhattisgarh, Goa, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Puducherry, Lakshadweep, Andaman and Nicobar Islands.