New Delhi, July 15 -- The Election Commission (EC) has extended the timeline for the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Delhi by 12 days, postponing the publication of the draft electoral roll from August 5 to August 17. The revised schedule follows a request from the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of Delhi, who sought additional time to complete the ongoing verification exercise.
According to the revised programme, the door-to-door verification of electors by Booth Level Officers (BLOs) will now continue until August 8 instead of the earlier deadline of July 29. The field verification exercise began across the national capital on June 30 as part of the nationwide revision of electoral rolls.
With the extension, the period for filing claims and objections has also been rescheduled. Citizens will now be able to raise objections or seek corrections in the draft electoral roll between August 17 and September 16. The publication of the final electoral roll has been deferred to October 19 from the earlier date of October 7.
The Election Commission stated that all subsequent stages of Delhi's SIR exercise have been shifted by 12 days to accommodate the extended verification process. Delhi is among the states included in the third phase of the nationwide Special Intensive Revision programme launched by the Election Commission on May 14. The exercise is aimed at ensuring electoral rolls remain accurate and updated through extensive field verification by election officials. Once the third phase is completed, the revision process will have covered the entire country except Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.
Earlier this week, the Commission also revised the timelines for Andhra Pradesh and Haryana, which are part of the same phase. In both states, the deadline for house-to-house verification by Booth Level Officers was extended from July 14 to July 24, resulting in the publication of the draft electoral rolls being shifted from July 21 to July 31.
The Election Commission has made similar adjustments to the SIR schedule in several states in recent weeks, citing administrative and logistical requirements. The staggered extensions are intended to provide election officials with adequate time to complete verification and ensure that electoral rolls are accurate before the publication of the final voter lists.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.