2.83 lakh fill up Form 6 in nine days to register to vote, Oct 26 deadline to file SIR claims & objections in Maharashtra

Pune: ECI on Monday extended the deadline for filing claims and objections to Maharashtra’s draft electoral roll under the SIR exercise till Oct 26, while 2.83 lakh people filled up Form 6 in the past nine days till Sunday, taking the number of new voters’ applications to 8.33 lakh between Aug 31 and Oct 11.A total of 5.5 lakh people, including new and existing voters whose names did not figure in the draft poll roll under the special intensive revision (SIR), had filled up Form 6 till Oct 2. Pune topped the Form 6 submission count till Sunday with 68,764 applications, followed by Thane (58,143) and Mumbai Suburban (48,861).ECI announced SIR on May 14 in 19 states and Union Territories, including Maharashtra. The state’s draft electoral roll was published on Aug 31, and 1.22 crore electors were flagged under unmapped voters and logical discrepancies. Notices were issued to them.The claims-and-objections window was scheduled to close on Monday (Oct 12). Its deadline was extended following a request from the state chief electoral officer in a letter on Oct 7. Election Commission of India (ECI) invoked the proviso to Rule 12 of the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960.Maharashtra chief electoral officer S Chockalingam said only the deadline to file claims and objections had been extended. The remaining period of time would enable the election machinery to dispose of applications within the revised schedule, he said.Under the revised schedule, applications and objections can be filed until Oct 26. The process of issuing notices and disposing of claims and objections will continue until Nov 10. The final electoral roll is scheduled for publication on Nov 16.Till Sunday, a total of 25,661 Form 7 applications were submitted seeking deletion of names or raising objections, equivalent to about 0.03% of the electorate. Thane received the highest number of Form 7 applications at 2,173.Mumbai Suburban recorded the highest number of Form 8 applications at 43,535 till Sunday for correction or shifting across assembly constituencies. Thane, with 29,977 forms, was second and Pune third (27,592).