Pune: When 27-year-old IT professional Sneha Rao returned home after work, she learnt that a booth-level officer (BLO) had visited to hand over her enumeration form for the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR). “I was worried I had missed the process. I was told the BLO would visit again and that I could also contact the officer to fix a convenient time,” the Kothrud resident said.Eighty-year-old S S Chavan was unaware of the exercise and what the form was when a BLO knocked on his door. “The BLO explained the exercise and the details of the form,” Chavan said. He said more awareness from residents welfare associations about SIR was a must. “Both government and political parties should make efforts and visit each society to ensure maximum participation,’’ he said.Both experiences reflect some on-the-ground challenges election staff encounter during the door-to-door exercise. Election officials said BLOs will make up to three visits to a voter’s registered address while evening rounds have also been planned in urban areas, where many electors are away during morning hours.“If the voter or any adult family member is unavailable during the first visit, or the house is locked, the BLO will leave his or her contact number at the residence or slip it under the door. The voter can contact the BLO and fix a convenient time. If there is no response, two more visits will be made,” an election official said.As of Saturday, enumeration forms were distributed to 5.64 crore (57.6%) of Maharashtra’s 9.78 crore voters. Digitisation was completed for 1.18 crore voters (12.1%).The door-to-door exercise, which began on June 30, will continue till July 29. Urban voters can also use the “Book a Call” facility on ECINet to contact their BLO or schedule a meeting at a convenient time, officials said.Election officials clarified that temporary migration will not affect a voter’s eligibility. “If a voter is away for work or temporarily staying elsewhere, an adult family member can fill and sign the enumeration form on the elector’s behalf,” an official said. They have received calls regarding voters being in other states for a short while.State election officials added that around 76% of electors on the current rolls have been mapped with entries in the previous SIR conducted between 2002 and 2004. “Anomalies have been detected in around 20% of mapped records, including surname and age discrepancies and multiple persons with the same name. The BLOs have to visit each house despite the mapping,’’ election officials said.What must electors do in the exercise?If Not Mapped I Electors not mapped with previous SIR records should still fill, sign and submit their forms. They may subsequently be told to provide one document prescribed by the Election Commission of India. The list covers 12 categories, including birth and educational certificates, passports, permanent residence and caste certificates, forest rights certificates and certain govt-issued records. The list is not restrictive and equivalent documents can be consideredWhich Documents I Election officials added that a voter must provide a document only for the specific discrepancy. A marriage registration certificate may suffice for a surname change after marriage, while a birth or school leaving certificate can be given for an age discrepancy. Only one valid document is required to establish eligibility, the state election official added.Duplicate Registration I Voters must submit the form only at the place where they currently reside. The Representation of the People Act does not permit enrolment at more than one place, and a false declaration can attract imprisonment of up to one year, a fine or both. Forms generated for deceased electors will be recorded under the deceased category based on information from relatives. Uncollected forms are generally classified as absent, shifted, deceased or already enrolled elsewhere
