Election Commission Meets Again, Extends SIR Deadlines In Andhra, Meghalaya

The Election Commission (EC) on Wednesday extended the schedule for the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral roll in Andhra Pradesh and Meghalaya, fixing October 16 and October 26, respectively, for the publication of the final voter lists.

Earlier, the date for the publication of the final voter list was October 9 for Andhra Pradesh and October 21 for Meghalaya.

The decision was taken at a meeting attended by Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar and Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi at the Nirvachan Sadan, the poll panel said in a statement.

In Andhra Pradesh, the notice phase and disposal of claims and objections, which began on July 31, will continue until October 10. The final electoral roll will be published on October 16.

For Meghalaya, the commission announced October 26 as the date for final publication. The statement did not specify a revised deadline for disposal of claims and objections or give reasons for extending the schedule.

The decision comes days after the EC announced a series of measures following reports of objections raised by Sandhu and Joshi over aspects of the revision exercise, including changes to voter-enrolment forms and the functioning of its electoral-roll-management software.

After a meeting of the full commission on September 26, the poll panel asserted that orders relating to the SIR had the unanimous approval of all three commissioners.

It also said the additional declaration attached to Form 6 would apply during the revision exercise, while the statutory forms prescribed under the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960, would be used during non-SIR periods.

On Tuesday, the EC withdrew the additional SIR-related declaration from the online voter enrolment Form 6 in states where the exercise has been completed. The commission had rolled out the third phase of the SIR in 16 states and three Union territories involving 36.73 crore voters in a staggered manner.

Like in the case of Andhra Pradesh and Meghalaya, the EC had previously extended the schedule for the publication of the final voter lists in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Delhi, Telangana, Odisha, Haryana and Punjab.

During the second phase of the SIR too, the schedule had seen frequent changes owing to different reasons.

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