EC Extends SIR Deadlines In Andhra, Meghalaya
ECI extended the SIR schedule in Andhra Pradesh and Meghalaya, with final electoral rolls now set for publication on October 16 and October 26.
The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Wednesday extended the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) schedule in Andhra Pradesh and Meghalaya, setting October 16 and October 26, respectively, as the dates for publishing the final electoral rolls.
The rolls were earlier scheduled for publication on October 9 in Andhra Pradesh and October 21 in Meghalaya.
The decision was taken at a meeting attended by Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi at Nirvachan Sadan, the commission said.
In Andhra Pradesh, the notice phase and disposal of claims and objections, which began on July 31, will continue until October 10. The final roll will be published on October 16.
For Meghalaya, the commission announced October 26 as the final publication date but did not specify a revised deadline for disposing of claims and objections. The statement did not give reasons for the extensions.
On Tuesday, the ECI withdrew the additional SIR-related declaration accompanying online voter-enrolment Form 6 in states where the revision had been completed.
It said the additional declaration would apply during the SIR, while the statutory forms prescribed under the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960, would be used outside the revision period.
The declaration requires new applicants to provide details linking themselves, their parents or grandparents to electoral rolls prepared during an earlier intensive revision.
It remains available on the ECINET portal in states and Union Territories where the SIR is underway. Where the exercise has concluded, it has been removed from the ECINET app and portal and the respective Chief Electoral Officer portals. Applicants in those states need to fill only the statutory Form 6.
The ECI recently announced several measures following reports that Mr Sandhu and Mr Joshi had raised objections to aspects of the revision, including changes to enrolment forms and the functioning of electoral-roll-management software.
After a meeting of the full commission on September 26, the ECI asserted that all SIR-related orders had the unanimous approval of the three commissioners.
The commission rolled out the third phase of the SIR in a staggered manner across 16 states and three Union Territories, covering 36.73 crore voters.
It had previously extended the final roll publication dates in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Delhi, Telangana, Odisha, Haryana and Punjab. The second phase of the SIR also saw repeated changes to the schedule for various reasons.
