Voter Rolls: Deadline Shifted to Feb 14, 12 States Affected

Voter list revisions across 12 states and Union Territories will now conclude on February 14, as the Election Commission has extended the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) deadline by one week. This adjustment is occurring just prior to the parliamentary winter session, a period often marked by political discussions on electoral matters. The extended timeframe allows election officials more leeway in publishing the draft electoral rolls. The enumeration phase, originally scheduled to finish on December 4, will now run until December 11. Consequently, the draft voter list’s release, initially planned for December 9, has been rescheduled to December 16. The final updated voter list is now expected on February 14. The extension comes after opposition parties, including the Trinamool Congress, expressed concerns to the Chief Election Commissioner regarding the management and equity of the extensive voter verification campaign. They cited the significant pressure placed upon booth-level officers (BLOs) by tight deadlines. The high stakes are amplified by recent reports of BLO suicides in states like West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, and Uttar Pradesh, particularly with West Bengal’s assembly elections approaching. The ongoing revision in Bengal has already identified about 18.70 lakh voters who have passed away. The Election Commission has also revised its estimate for names to be struck off the rolls, now anticipating a total of around 35 lakh deletions, which includes deceased, duplicate, and permanently migrated voters.