Kerala SIR: Deadline for filing claims and objections extended up to January 30

The Election Commission of India (EC) has extended the period for filing claims and objections under the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral roll up to January 30 in Kerala.

Earlier, the period was fixed from December 23, when the draft electoral was published, to January 22.

The EC decision has come against the backdrop of the Supreme Court advising the poll body to consider the desirability of extending the ‘claims and objections period’ suitably. The Chief Electoral Officer (Kerala) also had requested the EC to extend the ‘claims and objections period’. The EC decision was made public through a notification on Sunday.

‘Errors have crept in’

Meanwhile, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)], has asked the EC to avoid causing hardships to citizens in the name of ‘logical discrepancies’ (inconsistencies and errors) in the entries. In a statement on Sunday, CPI(M) State secretary M.V. Govindan said the errors have crept in in the draft roll prepared by the Commission, and the voters cannot be held responsible for them.

The errors, he said, would range from the mistakes caused by the Commission in entering the name, age or address in the 2002 SIR roll to other typographical or clerical errors. A situation has now arisen where clerical errors caused by the Commission are threatening the rights of citizens to cast their votes, Mr. Govindan said. It could also be suspected that the software being used by the EC is not error-proof, he added.

The CPI(M) has demanded the EC’s urgent intervention in this matter. Mr. Govindan said that the booth-level officers (BLO) themselves can rectify these errors without inconveniencing the voters.