Voter List Cleanup Deadline Extended By A Week, Final List Out On Feb 14

The deadline for the voter list cleanup exercise special intensive revision (SIR) in 12 states and Union Territories has been extended by a week till February 14, the Election Commission said today. The SIR issue is likely to lead to a huge showdown in parliament during the winter session that would begin tomorrow.

The Election Commission in a three-page order issued today said it has allowed one more week for poll officials to publish the draft list of voters. The enumeration period will end on December 11. Earlier, it was set to December 4.

In the fresh order, the Election Commission said the draft voter list which was scheduled to be released on December 9 will be published on December 16, and the final list will be published on February 14.

Leaders of the Trinamool Congress and other Opposition parties met Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar in Delhi this week, and urged the EC to reschedule the SIR exercise.

They requested the EC to plan the SIR exercise in a better manner. The request comes amid reports that booth level officers (BLOs) are under immense pressure as they go from door-to-door to complete the mammoth task in a tight schedule.

Death by suicide of BLOs have been reported from West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, and Uttar Pradesh. The Bengal election is due early next year.

The first stage of the three-level SIR exercise in Bengal is coming to a close. The EC has identified 18.70 lakh dead voters still existing in the current voters' list, till November 29 evening.

The EC has further scaled up its estimated number of voters likely to be deleted from the draft list; the new estimated figure on this count is around 35 lakh, news agency IANS reported.

The figure of 35 lakh includes 18.70 lakh voters who have died in addition to duplicate voters, untraceable voters, and voters who have permanently shifted to different states.