NEW DELHI: The Election Commission on Saturday extended the timeline for the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Delhi by a month, giving voters until October 30 to file claims and objections.The final electoral roll will now be published on December 4, under the revised schedule.The deadline for disposal of notices and claims and objections has also been extended by a month, till November 30.
Claims-objections deadline extended by a month
The claims and objections process began on August 31 and was earlier scheduled to end on September 30. Disposal of notices and claims and objections was to be completed by October 30, while the final electoral roll was scheduled to be published on November 4.The revised schedule follows a request from the Delhi chief electoral officer (CEO), made in a letter dated September 23, seeking revision of the SIR schedule for the national capital, news agency PTI reported.
Over 97 lakh voters in draft roll, 33.13 lakh issued notices
The extension comes as the claims and objections phase is underway following publication of draft rolls containing over 97 lakh voters.Notices have been issued to 33.13 lakh voters over “discrepancies” in the details furnished in their enumeration forms. A large number of cases involve data that could not be matched with the electoral roll prepared during the previous SIR in 2002.Several prominent voters, including former deputy prime minister L K Advani, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta, Election Commissioner S S Sandhu, former vice-president Jagdeep Dhankhar and former Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, had also received notices from the Delhi poll body.Officials, however, said the details of most of them have been validated through field verification and their names have been reserved for inclusion in the final roll.
Notice does not mean deletion of name
The Delhi CEO’s office had earlier reiterated that issuance of a notice does not mean that an elector’s name would be deleted from the electoral roll.Voters who receive notices can submit their replies and requisite supporting documents before the concerned electoral registration officer or booth-level officer, it said.The CEO’s office has also clarified that notices are part of the verification process and do not automatically lead to deletion.Poll officials have maintained that no name can be deleted without following due process, including allowing the concerned elector to be heard and passing a proper speaking and appealable order.(With PTI inputs)
