Mumbai, August 20: The Election Commission of India (ECI) has announced a significant change in the schedule for the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the voter list in Maharashtra. The publication date for the final voter list has been postponed from October 7 to November 4.
In an order issued on August 19, the ECI stated that this revised schedule was implemented after considering a request from the Chief Electoral Officer of Maharashtra.
According to the new timeline, the rationalization and reorganization of polling stations will be completed by August 24, while the draft voter list will be published on August 31. This decision is crucial as both the Congress and NCP (SP) had requested additional time to prevent a large number of voters from being omitted from the list.
The document collection process in Maharashtra concluded on August 17. This process involved booth-level officers (BLOs) gathering information from voters door-to-door and collecting enumeration forms. The deadline for this task had already been extended previously, allowing more time for its completion.
Under the updated schedule, voters will have from August 31 to September 30 to file claims and objections against the draft voter list. This is a delay of 26 days compared to the previous schedule, which had the draft published on August 5 and claims accepted until September 4. The notice phase and resolution of claims and objections will also run from August 31 to October 29.
Previously, this process was set to take place from August 5 to October 3. Now, the final voter list will be released on November 4, marking a 28-day delay from the original deadline of October 7.
The new dates have also pushed back the rationalization of polling stations, which was initially due by July 29 but will now be completed by August 24. The old SIR schedule included preparation, training, and printing from June 20 to June 29, followed by the door-to-door information gathering by BLOs from June 30 to July 29. These phases have now concluded, with the document collection process finishing on August 17.
The ECI has instructed that all relevant officials be informed of the new schedule, and it should be widely publicized through all available media. Political parties will also receive written notification regarding the revised schedule. The SIR process for Maharashtra is being conducted with October 1 as the qualifying date for this year.
This announcement from the ECI comes a day after the Chief Electoral Officer’s office in Maharashtra reported that following the completion of the first major phase of SIR on August 17, approximately 2.07 crore voters—representing 21.15 percent of the state’s total voters—will be removed from the upcoming draft voter list.
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