Mumbai, Sep 28 (SocialNews.XYZ) In a major push to streamline the electoral roll under the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) drive, Maharashtra Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) S. Chockalingam on Monday announced special camps at polling stations across the state to help citizens rectify discrepancies in their voter records.
Addressing the low public response to fixing voter record errors, Chockalingam confirmed that weekend camps will be held at over 100,300 polling stations statewide, including 10,000 centres in Mumbai.
Voters can visit these stations directly to submit applications to update names, addresses, or correct errors in draft rolls.
The deadline to file claims and objections has been extended to October 12, and processing of notices, claims, and objections will conclude by November 10.
The final voter list will be published on November 16. Notices were issued to 1.22 crore voters flagged for logical errors or missing document matches. Citizens no longer need to visit Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) in person; they can respond by sending notices and required documents via WhatsApp.
Out of 1.51 crore voters omitted from draft rolls, only 3.9 lakh have resubmitted fresh registration forms over the past month.
District Collectors have been instructed to conduct voter registration camps across all junior and senior colleges, with mandatory reporting on student enrolment numbers.
Political controversy has erupted after the state government declared drought in 265 talukas without prior clearance from the Election Commission of India (ECI), despite the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) being in force for upcoming Maharashtra Legislative Council (MLC) elections in Teachers’ and Graduates’ constituencies.
The government is accused of violating MCC guidelines by extending 12 relief concessions without ECI approval.
Sources said a proposal seeking clearance was submitted, but the executive order was issued while the application was pending.
Earlier, the ECI announced operational measures including door-to-door document collection, exemption from mandatory physical attendance, relief in virtual hearings, family representation and creation of help desks for vulnerable groups. “Booth Level Officers (BLOs) will directly visit the homes of citizens flagged as ‘Unmapped’ or with ‘Logical Discrepancies’ to collect verification documents. Hearings, if unavoidable, will be conducted online, with any adult family member allowed to represent the voter,” the CEO’s office said.
District Election Officers (DEOs) have been instructed to set up help desks and outreach camps for homeless citizens, migrant labourers, pavement dwellers and night shelter occupants to ensure inclusive enrolment.
The current SIR campaign, launched earlier this year, is the first comprehensive door-to-door electoral roll overhaul in Maharashtra since 2002. Rapid urbanisation, migration, unrecorded deaths and duplicate entries over two decades necessitated full-scale verification.
During the initial phase, BLOs cross-checked voters against historical rolls from 2002–2004 to establish eligibility cut-offs. However, heavy monsoon rains in Konkan and Mumbai, civic disruptions, and large numbers of “unmapped” voters created operational bottlenecks, prompting calls from political parties and civil society groups for more time.
Source: IANS
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