SIR relief for voters displaced by redevelopment

According to a circular issued by the district election officer of Mumbai and Thane, voters temporarily displaced due to redevelopment or rehabilitation will be considered eligible electors

MUMBAI: The Election Commission of India (ECI) has allowed citizens temporarily displaced by redevelopment to use the address of their original homes, that is, the structures under redevelopment, to complete the enumeration process during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls. They, however, must provide an undertaking that their original address is their ordinary residence and they will return to that address in the near term.

SIR relief for voters displaced by redevelopment

According to a circular issued by the district election officer of Mumbai and Thane, voters temporarily displaced due to redevelopment or rehabilitation will be considered eligible electors. They would continue to be eligible for enrolment at their original addresses.

The circular said the Representation of the People Act, 1950, states that an individual temporarily absent from their place of ordinary residence does not cease to be an ordinary resident merely because of such absence. The poll authorities also referred to the Electoral Roll Manual, which states that temporary absence will not affect an individual’s eligibility if the elector has the ability and intention to return to the original place of residence.

Problems had arisen when the ECI had been treating transit accommodation as the “ordinary residence” of such voters, who were told to complete the enumeration at their new address. Many voters were neither willing to register at the new address, nor were able to provide the required documents.

The percentage of enumeration in Mumbai and Thane is the lowest in the state, with redevelopment believed to be the reasons. While the enumeration has been completed for 74.04% voters in the state as on Tuesday, it is just 56.26% in Mumbai City, 55.49% in Mumbai Suburban and 48.69% in Thane.

The ECI’s circular comes following demands from political parties, civil society groups and the chief minister. Congress’s Mumbaidevi MLA, Amin Patel said, “Almost every assembly constituency in Mumbai has at least 10% voters displaced due to redevelopment. Had the EC not allowed them to register at their original address, they would have not have been able to register on the electoral rolls and would have to begin the enrolment process afresh. After the EC’s decision, we have started arranging camps to facilitate enumeration of residents of buildings under redevelopment,” he said.