Amid elector apathy, EC extends Maharashtra SIR deadline yet again till October 26

The EC has received only 8,33,000 applications as of Monday and is hoping for more applications during the 14-day extension

After the poor response from first-time voters and electors whose names were deleted from the draft electoral rolls, the Election Commission (EC) has extended the deadline for fresh enrolment, as well as claims and objections in Maharashtra till October 26. However, the deadline for hearings on claims and objections will remain unchanged at November 10. The final electoral roll is scheduled to be published on November 16.

Image for representation (HT Photo)

The EC has received only 8,33,000 applications as of Monday and is hoping for more applications during the 14-day extension.

As part of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR), the EC deleted 20.70 million electors from the rolls on August 30, when the first phase of the exercise was completed, and the draft roll was published. Of these, 7.68 million were recorded as permanently shifted, 7.55 million were marked absent from their registered addresses, 3.48 million were reported dead, 1.76 million were identified as duplicate entries, and 2,23,000 reportedly refused to participate in the enumeration process.

The EC had expected many of the 15.23 million electors deleted for being absent or permanently shifted to re-enrol by submitting Form 6. It was also anticipating a good response from 3.6 million first-time voters who became eligible to register for the first time after October 2024.

Apart from applications for fresh enrolment, the EC has received 25,661 Form 7 applications, which are used to seek the deletion of names from the electoral rolls. Such applications can be filed not only by registered electors for resolving issues such as being registered in two places but also by any person from the same assembly constituency, provided the request is supported by relevant documents. The latter is allegedly often used by political workers to get inconvenient voters off the lists.

If fresh enrolment applications remain below 1.5 million, a large number of electors could remain off the rolls, potentially leaving more than 19 million people deleted from the electoral lists. In addition, a significant number of electors among the 12.2 million whose details have been flagged for discrepancies or who have not been mapped to the 2004 SIR are also expected to be deleted even though things have been sorted out after the recent protests and powers are in the hands of the local EROs again. “Electors need to shed their apathy and come forward to register,” said the official.

Officials have attributed the poor response partly to the fact that the next elections are still three years away.

Sandesh Kondvilkar, Maharashtra Congress general secretary, said the low number of applications reflected a loss of public confidence in the system. “Against the 19 million people comprising those who have shifted, those marked absent and first-time voters, only 8,33,000 have applied for enrolment,” he said. “This is less than five per cent of the expected applications. What happened to the EC’s announcement that camps would be set up in colleges to encourage first-time voters to register? The poor response is also due to booth-level officers (BLOs) being overburdened and fatigued by excessive work.”