New Delhi, May 31: The Election Commission of India (ECI) announced on Sunday that the counting phase under the third stage of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) has commenced in Odisha, Mizoram, Sikkim, and Manipur.
An official statement revealed that the counting phase began on Saturday. The commission stated that all eligible voters whose counting forms are received by the Electoral Registration Officer (ERO) by June 28 will be included in the draft electoral roll.
Voters who are unable to submit their counting forms by June 28 can apply through Form 6 with the prescribed declaration form during the claims and objections period. During the enumeration phase of SIR, Booth Level Officers (BLOs) will visit homes to distribute enumeration forms to all existing voters.
The Election Commission mentioned that voters can submit the correctly filled forms either to the BLO or online. To ensure maximum coverage, BLOs will visit every household to distribute, collect, and verify the forms.
During the door-to-door enumeration, BLOs will carry at least 30 blank Form 6s along with empty declaration forms for any new voters who wish to register.
To enhance participation from political parties, the commission has allowed recognized political parties’ booth level agents (BLAs) to collect 50 forms daily from the public and submit them to the BLO before the draft publication. National and state-level recognized political parties can appoint BLAs to assist BLOs in conducting the SIR process smoothly and effectively.
The commission exercised its powers under Article 324 of the Constitution of India, Section 21, and the second applicable rules of the Representation of the People Act, 1950, to order SIR on May 14 across 16 states and 3 Union Territories (UTs).
The primary aim of SIR is to ensure that no eligible citizen is left out and no ineligible person is included in the electoral roll. Every individual who is a citizen of India, at least 18 years old on the qualifying date, and not disqualified under any law, is entitled to register in the electoral roll.
In Odisha, there are 33.4 million voters, 38,123 BLOs, and 8,391 BLAs. Mizoram has 875,000 voters, 1,353 BLOs, and 3,430 BLAs. The ECI reported that Sikkim has 471,000 voters, 572 BLOs, and 681 BLAs.
In Manipur, there are 2.092 million voters, 2,996 BLOs, and 5,003 BLAs. The commission has urged voters to cooperate with election officials during the door-to-door visits.