Election Commission extends voter verification deadline in Maharashtra to August 8

The Election Commission of India (ECI) has extended the deadline for the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Maharashtra. Booth Level Officers (BLOs) will now continue house-to-house voter verification until August 8, instead of the earlier deadline of July 29. This decision follows a request from the Maharashtra Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), who cited disruptions caused by heavy rainfall across the state during the first phase of the exercise.

Revised Timelines for Electoral Roll Updates
Under the updated schedule, citizens can file claims and objections between August 17 and September 16, instead of the earlier cutoff of September 4. Hearings and disposal of these claims will take place from August 17 to September 15, and the final electoral roll is set to be published on October 19. Joint Chief Electoral Officer Manohar Parkar urged eligible voters to complete the process within the revised timeframe to ensure their inclusion in the electoral rolls.

Rainfall and Logistical Challenges Slow Progress
The extension comes amid widespread disruptions caused by incessant rains, which have led to waterlogging, transport breakdowns, and power outages, particularly in Mumbai and the Mumbai Metropolitan Region. These issues have significantly hampered the house-to-house verification drive, which began on June 30. Opposition parties and public representatives had also called for an extension, citing the adverse impact of the weather on the process.

Adding to the challenges, many BLOs—who are often government or aided school teachers—are juggling their teaching responsibilities alongside their voter verification duties. As a result, progress has been slow. Official data reveals that as of July 17, only 35.16% of Enumeration Forms (EFs) had been digitised across the state.

Mumbai Metropolitan Region Lags Behind
The Mumbai Metropolitan Region has seen particularly sluggish progress. Mumbai Suburban has completed only 8.38% of form digitisation, Thane 8.41%, Mumbai City 15.36%, and Palghar 14.2%. In Mumbai’s City and Suburban districts, nearly 10,000 BLOs are tasked with verifying 900 to 1,200 voters each. Their duties include distributing forms, verifying details, obtaining signatures, and uploading forms digitally.

If voters are unavailable during the verification visits, BLOs are required to make at least three attempts before categorising them under the ASDD (Absent, Shifted, Dead, Duplicate) category.

Why This Matters
The extension is critical to ensuring that eligible voters, especially in rain-affected areas, are not excluded from the electoral rolls. With the final roll scheduled for publication on October 19, the ECI faces pressure to complete the process efficiently while addressing logistical and weather-related challenges.

Source: Indian Express