Delhi SIR process to include persons whose homes have been demolished, says poll panel

Delhi Chief Electoral Officer Ashok Kumar on Monday said that the Election Commission will come up with a mechanism to ensure that voters whose homes have been demolished recently are not excluded from the special intensive revision of electoral rolls, The Hindu reported.

Kumar’s statement came a day before the door-to-door enumeration exercise for the revision of electoral rolls began in the national capital under phase three of the special intensive revision. The month-long enumeration drive will be carried out from June 30 to July 29 in Delhi, as well as in Jharkhand, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Meghalaya.

Addressing a press conference on Monday, Kumar said that there could be electors whose registered addresses no longer exist because their houses have been demolished by the time of the booth level officer’s visit.

“They might not be able to obtain alternative residence proof during the duration of the [special intensive revision],” The Hindu quoted him as saying. “We will work out a plan to ensure their inclusion.”

Responding to a question about homeless persons, Kumar said that booth level officers would visit every registered address, even if it was a temporary location.

“BLOs will visit the registered address of the elector, even if it is a pillar under a flyover,” the newspaper quoted him as saying. “If they are not...

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