Pune: The state election office has started publishing the lists of electors yet to submit supporting documents against notices served under the SIR exercise, giving them time until the end of the month to resolve discrepancies before the publication of the final electoral roll on Nov 16.As of Saturday, lists covering nine assembly constituencies across four districts — three constituencies in Chandrapur, Byculla in Mumbai City, four in Parbhani and Koregaon in Satara — were available on the chief electoral officer, Maharashtra, website. Electors can check the “pending notices” section and contact booth-level officers (BLOs) for assistance.Officials said the lists contained only unresolved cases and did not represent all the 1.22 crore notices generated during the special intensive revision (SIR) exercise. Cases in which the electoral registration officer (ERO) was satisfied with the supporting documents and completed the process would not be displayed as pending because this could cause unnecessary anxiety, officials said.The draft electoral roll was published on Aug 31. Under the revised schedule, the notice stage and disposal of claims and objections would conclude on Nov 10. The final electoral roll is scheduled for publication on Nov 16.The process of resolving notices is being carried out largely through document verification, without routine formal hearings. Some electors approached BLOs with documents, while in other cases BLOs visited voters’ homes to collect the required papers.Several electors had submitted supporting documents during the house-to-house enumeration drive, but those could not be uploaded then because the system did not have a provision for it. EROs are now collating these documents and updating records.Chief electoral officer S Chockalingam told TOI that notices issued for logical discrepancies and unmapped electors were being cleared after BLOs collected the required documents. “All efforts are being made to ensure that the documents are collected within the time. EROs are verifying the documents and clearing cases where no hearing is required,” he said.Election Commission of India (ECI)’s Sept 26 directive stated that electors served notices over unmapped records or logical discrepancies need not routinely appear before EROs or assistant EROs. BLOs will collect supporting documents from electors and upload them on ECINET for the ERO’s decision. Hearings may be held in exceptional cases, preferably online. An authorised adult family member may attend the hearing on behalf of an elector if required.“We are clearing cases involving logical discrepancies immediately. In unmapped cases, we are collecting documents and checking them thoroughly. There won’t be any problem if the documents submitted are sufficient because there is no routine hearing,” a BLO said.Another BLO said the challenge was reaching the electors not responding to calls seeking supporting documents. “I had to contact over 100 electors initially. Now, only 30 cases remain. These electors are not answering my calls,” the BLO said.
