Special Intensive Revision: EC makes BIG announcement, says BLAs will have list of deceased, shifted voters ahead of…
The Election Commission said BLAs of all political parties will be given the list of voters removed from voters' list during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise, who are either deceased or shifted.
Special Intensive Revision: In a significant move to shut down opposition parties’ criticism of the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in 12 states and Union territories, the Election Commission (EC) has announced that it will provide a list of dead, shifted and deleted voters to the booth-level agents (BLAs) appointed by political parties.
BLAs to be given list of deleted voters
In a statement issued Wednesday, the apex poll panel said BLAs of all political parties will be given the list of voters removed from voters’ list who are either deceased or shifted, with whom BLOs couldn’t establish contact after three attempts. The list will be provided to the BLAs before the draft voters list is published in the 12 states and Union territories where the SIR exercise underway.
Draft electoral rolls in these nine states and three Union territories will be published on December 16, the EC said, adding that chief electoral officers (CEOs) of the 12 states and Union territories have been asked to share a booth-wise list of absent, shifted and dead or duplicate voters with the booth-level agents (BLAs).
These are the voters with whom the booth-level officers (BLOs) could not establish contact despite three attempts, the Commission said, noting that similar procedure was followed during the Bihar SIR.
Why EC extended SIR schedule?
Earlier, on November 30, the Election Commission extended by one week the entire schedule of the ongoing SIR exercise in nine states and three Union Territories amid allegations by opposition parties that the “tight timelines” were creating problems for people and ground-level poll officials.
The EC had announced SIR in these states and UTs on October 27. Nearly 51 crore electors will be covered in the massive voters’ list cleanup exercise. The states and Union Territories are: the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Gujarat, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Puducherry, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.
Among these, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Kerala, and West Bengal will go to the polls in 2026. In Assam, where also polls are due in 2026, the revision of electoral rolls was announced separately. It is being called ‘Special Revision’.
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