With just 48 hours left to submit the enumeration form for Special Intensive Revision (SIR) and around 27.5 million voters yet to submit their forms in Uttar Pradesh, it is now expected that the December 11 deadline could be extended for the second time, by a week.
ECI sources here on Tuesday hinted that UP could be given another week’s time to submit the enumeration forms.
According to Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Navdeep Rinwa, approximately 17.7 per cent (nearly 2.75 crore) voter enumeration forms have not been collected by the Booth Level Officers (BLOs) till Monday evening.
“These voters are those who have not submitted forms, absent, deceased, or shifted voters. Besides, mapping of 30 per cent of voters with the 2003 electoral rolls is yet to be completed,” he added while talking to this correspondent on Tuesday.
He said 97.3 per cent of the digitisation of the enumeration forms has been completed. The state has over 15.44 crore voters.
“While 80 per cent of the enumeration forms have been returned in the state, 17.7 per cent of the forms are still outstanding,” he admitted, hinting at having talked to the Commission on the issue.
Previously, the deadline for filling out the enumeration forms was extended from December 4 to December 11 on November 30.
The CEO requested all political parties and the cooperation of booth-level agents (BLAs) appointed by parties in the verification of uncollectible forms of voters in a meeting yesterday. While all District Election Officers (DEOs) have been instructed to verify whether these forms are indeed unrecoverable.
Representatives of all political parties have demanded the extension of the deadline by at least a week to complete the process. The CEO’s office has also supported the demand of the political parties in the meeting.
The CEO’s office said the BLOs will provide the list of uncollectible forms of voters to BLAs, and this list will also be available on each district election officer’s website, as well as on a constituency-wise and booth-wise basis.
The CEO said migrant voters, who are Indian citizens and have travelled abroad for employment, education, business, or other purposes and have been living there for a long time and have not become citizens of any other country, can become voters by filling out Form 6A instead of the enumeration form. They can also fill out Form 6A online by visiting the Election Commission of India website: voters.eci.gov.in.
Currently, there are 1,533 migrant voters in the state, and the ECI has received Form 6A from 115 individuals only so far, according to the data available. They will have to submit their passport address details to become voters, he said.
Meanwhile, the ECI has appointed four IAS officers of Joint Secretary level, currently serving in various ministries of the Central Government, as Special Roll Observers to monitor the ongoing Special Summary Revision in UP. These officers are Nikhil Gajraj, Jawadi V Naga Subramanyam, Kunal, and Siddharth Jain.
The Commission has appointed Nikhil Gajraj as Special Roll Observer for Saharanpur, Meerut, Moradabad, and Aligarh divisions; Jawadi V Naga Subramanyam for Lucknow, Kanpur, Agra, Bareilly, Jhansi, Chitrakoot Dham, and Prayagraj divisions; Kunal for Devipatan, Basti, Ayodhya, and Varanasi divisions; and Siddharth Jain for Azamgarh, Gorakhpur, and Mirzapur divisions. These officers will monitor the Special Summary Revision work in all the districts under their respective divisions.
According to the guidelines issued by the Commission, the officers appointed as Special Roll Observers during the Special Summary Revision process will be responsible for ensuring that no eligible person is left out of the electoral roll and no ineligible person is included in the electoral roll.
The responsibility of the Special Roll Observers will extend from the enumeration phase to the date of final publication of the electoral roll. The Special Roll Observers will work in coordination with the Chief Electoral Officer of the state in their respective areas of operation.