Second Chance For Voters Left Out Of Draft SIR Rolls In Delhi, Six Other States

New Delhi: The Election Commission on Friday gave a fresh chance to electors of seven states who were marked as Absent, Shifted, Dead and Duplicate (ASDD), and whose names could not be included in the draft rolls during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise there.The EC wrote to the chief electoral officers of Delhi, Maharashtra, Haryana, Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand, Telangana and Nagaland on November 6, asking them to facilitate the inclusion of such electors in the final rolls.The decision covers those who were issued enumeration forms but whose forms were not received back, resulting in their exclusion from the draft.It essentially gives a second chance to such people in states where the SIR is on at present.The Opposition has been accusing the EC of deleting the names of crores of eligible citizens from the electoral rolls at the behest of the BJP. The poll authority has defended the revision, citing its validation by the Supreme Court, while the BJP has said the Congress-led Opposition is merely a sore loser.How It'll WorkCould not submit: Electors who have not shifted residence can submit their duly filled enumeration forms along with a statement explaining why they could not submit them earlier.Change of address: Those who have shifted within the state need not file Form 8 for a change of address but must submit the enumeration form along with a statement mentioning their new address and assembly constituency, supported by address proof.Homeless: In the case of electors who do not possess any address documents and are homeless, the BLO's field verification report will be accepted as proof of residence.Electors who have already submitted Form 6 for fresh enrolment during the SIR will not be required to submit the enumeration form again.Special MeasuresThe commission has directed officials to provide fresh enumeration forms to these electors and make all possible efforts to contact them through Booth Level Officers (BLOs), including house-to-house visits, WhatsApp, e-mail and SMS.Booth-wise lists of such electors, along with reasons for their exclusion so far, will be displayed at polling stations and designated local government offices once again, says the order. The lists will also be uploaded on the websites of the respective chief electoral officers.The EC said applications would be scrutinised by Electoral Registration Officers under Rule 21(1) of the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960.Accepted applications will be kept separately for inclusion in the final electoral roll, with the electors retaining their previous EPIC numbers.Another U-Turn: CongressThe Congress termed the EC's additional opportunity to electors left out of draft voter lists in seven states as a "U-turn", calling it a "belated admission [of] wrongful deletion and exclusion".The party also reiterated its demand that Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar must resign or be removed and the SIR be scrapped."Every new set of orders begs the question: what was the point of this bureaucratic mess that every Indian has been put through? These repeated clarifications and amendments actually expose the true intent of the diabolical PM-HM (Narendra Modi-Amit Shah). They have been caught out," the party said.The issue of giving chances to those left out during the SIR is being heard in the Supreme Court too.