Mumbai: The Election Commission is set to roll out a large-scale voter verification exercise in Maharashtra under the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process, aimed at improving the accuracy and transparency
of electoral rolls.
BLO deployment
Chief Electoral Officer of Maharashtra S. Chockalingam said over one lakh Booth Level Officers (BLOs) will conduct door-to-door physical verification of voters across the state. During the exercise, voters will be required to confirm their residence and sign verification forms.
Chockalingam said that BLOs will visit each household up to three times. “If a voter is not found at the given address even after three visits, their name may be deleted from the electoral roll as per SIR provisions,” he said.
Preparatory work
The Chockalingam added that preparatory work for the drive is already underway following directives from the Election Commission of India. This includes a name-matching process between electoral rolls of 2003–04 and 2024, of which around 50 per cent has been completed. The mapping exercise is expected to make physical verification smoother in the coming weeks.
The SIR process will also involve verification of citizenship details in accordance with provisions of the Citizenship Act. Officials will check eligibility criteria based on different timelines, including birth and parental citizenship norms applicable before and after 1987 and 2004.
Maharashtra's delay
Chockalingam noted that Maharashtra is slightly behind other states in initiating the SIR process as administrative machinery was engaged in local body elections. However, the Election Commission has set a target to complete the entire exercise within three months, despite it being time-consuming.
He also pointed out that verification may be more challenging in urban areas due to high-rise residential systems, where residents may not be familiar with their neighbours, unlike in rural areas.
Inter-state migration
In cases where voters have migrated from other states, officials will verify their previous voting records through a mobile application. Upon confirmation, their names will be added to the Maharashtra rolls and deleted from their previous state to avoid duplication.
Addressing concerns raised in some states over large-scale deletions in recent months, Chockalingam clarified that such cases largely involve migrated individuals who were unavailable during verification.
He added that the cost of the SIR exercise will be shared by both the central and state governments. “This is not a major expenditure, but a major verification exercise to ensure the integrity of electoral rolls,” he said.
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