Delhi may extend SIR deadline by 2 weeks, giving 47.6 lakh excluded voters another chance

New Delhi (TIP): With nearly 47.6 lakh voters missing from Delhi’s draft electoral rolls, the Election Commission is considering extending the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise by around two weeks to give them another opportunity to establish their eligibility and get their names included in the final list.
Officials said the existing schedule was likely to be extended to facilitate the re-verification of voters categorised as absent, shifted, dead and duplicate (ASDD) during the enumeration exercise. The revised timeline, however, is yet to be approved and will be discussed at the next meeting.
The move follows an announcement by the Delhi Chief Electoral Officer’s (CEO) office last week that voters placed in the ASDD category would be given another opportunity to submit their enumeration forms. These voters had failed to submit the forms during the house-to-house enumeration conducted between June 30 and August 17, resulting in their exclusion from the draft rolls published on August 31.
Under the proposed arrangement, nearly 15,000 Booth Level Officers (BLOs) are expected to visit the registered addresses of these voters and distribute fresh enumeration forms. The voters will have to submit the forms along with prescribed declarations and supporting documents to establish their eligibility. “The issue will be taken up for discussion in the next meeting and finalised,” an official said, indicating that the extension could be around two weeks to complete the re-verification exercise.
Officials clarified that voters who have already applied for fresh enrolment through Form 6 during the SIR exercise would not need to submit enumeration forms again. Their applications would be processed by the respective Electoral Registration Officers (EROs). Those submitting fresh enumeration forms would also not be required to file a separate application for inclusion in the final rolls.