EC extends SIR deadlines in six states, Delhi final voter roll now December 22

The Election Commission has extended the schedule for the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls in six states, pushing publication of the final voter lists to November 30 in five of them and to December 22 in Delhi. The commission has pushed back these timelines more than once during the exercise.

Separate letters issued to state chief electoral officers on October 29 set out the new dates. Haryana, Telangana, Nagaland, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra will all publish their final rolls on November 30, while Delhi's list has been moved to December 22.

The window for filing claims and objections, the forms through which residents seek inclusion or deletion, has been reopened or extended in each of the six. Maharashtra's closes on November 13, Andhra Pradesh and Haryana on November 20, Nagaland on November 25, Telangana on November 26 and Delhi on November 25.

In Telangana, the notice stage and the clearing of claims and objections will run until November 26, with the final roll due on November 30, against the earlier dates of November 5 and November 9. Officials have been asked to give the revised schedules wide publicity and to write to political parties about them.

Before the order, the revision had already closed its claims window in several states. According to the websites of the state electoral officers, it ended in Haryana on September 30, in Telangana on October 7, in Nagaland on October 20, in Andhra Pradesh on October 22 and in Maharashtra on October 26. In Delhi, where the process began after the draft roll was published on August 31, it was due to end on Friday.

Reports differ on how some of the revised dates are described. Telangana's November 26 deadline appears both as the close of the notice stage and as the last date for claims, while for Delhi one account gives November 25 for claims and December 15 for the notice stage, and others mention only November 25.

Under the commission's procedure, every registered elector had to file an enumeration form during a one-month phase to stay on the draft roll. Those who did not were dropped, but could use Form 6 to claim a place before the final list; deletions can be sought through Form 7. The third phase of the exercise began on May 14 in 19 states and union territories and has been completed in 24 so far.

The extension came a day after the Supreme Court, hearing a petition on the Delhi revision, asked the commission to consider giving more time for claims beyond October 30, according to reports.

(With inputs from media reports)