ECI Extends UP Electoral Roll Update by One Month; Final List On April 10

This is the fourth time the state has been given extension even as a highly-populated state like West Bengal complained not getting sufficient time to complete SIR exercise with ease. ECI sources said states like UP do not have the pressure of assembly elections, hence, can be given more time.

In a letter to the state chief electoral officer (CEO) on Thursday, the ECI said it has considered his request made on February 2 "and also upon consideration of other relevant factors", it has decided to revise the schedule of the ongoing SIR of the electoral rolls in Uttar Pradesh.

Uttar Pradesh CEO Navdeep Rinwa said in Lucknow that as part of the SIR schedule revision, the EC has also extended the deadline for filing claims and objections by a month, to March 6.

He said the SIR exercise began on October 27 last year and the draft electoral roll was published on January 6 after the completion of the enumeration phase. According to the original schedule, the period for filing claims and objections was from January 6 to February 6.

However, following a meeting with recognised national and state political parties on January 27, during which many of them sought more time, a proposal was sent to the EC, the CEO said.

"The EC has decided to extend the last date for filing claims and objections from February 6 to March 6. This gives voters another month to submit Form 6 for the inclusion of their names, Form 7 for deletion and for corrections or objections," he said. He added that the deadline for the disposal of notices related to mapping discrepancies has also been extended from February 27 to March 27. The final resolution of such cases will now continue till March 27.

The CEO said a large number of applications have been received during the revision exercise. Between October 27 and January 6, about 16.18 lakh Form-6 applications and 49,399 Form-7 applications were received. From January 6 to February 4, more than 37.8 lakh Form-6 applications for addition of names were received, while 82,684 Form-7 applications were filed between January 6 and February 5. On February 5 alone, a record 3,51,745 Form-6 applications were received, indicating an increase in the pace of submissions, Rinwa said.

He said 1,073 applications have been received from overseas electors through Form 6A. He also detailed the parallel exercise of addressing mapping discrepancies with the 2003 electoral roll. Around 1.04 crore voters could not be mapped with the 2003 roll, while 2.22 crore cases involved logical discrepancies, such as mismatches in parentage details or significant age variations. In total, notices are to be issued to 3.26 crore voters.

"So far, 2.37 crore notices have been generated, 86.27 lakh have been served and hearings in about 30.3 lakh cases have been completed," the CEO said. He asserted that there is no need to panic as adequate time has been provided. To facilitate voters, booth-level officers (BLOs) will be available with the draft electoral roll at polling stations between 10 am and 12 noon on all working days. They will also carry the lists of absent, shifted, deceased, duplicate and refused-to-sign voters, as well as the lists of those with mapping discrepancies, to help citizens verify their status.