Maharashtra Electoral Roll Revision From June 30: Door-To-Door Verification Of 9.86 Crore Voters Begins

Mumbai: Chief election officer of Maharashtra S. Chockalingam on Thursday announced the complete schedule for the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Maharashtra, under which Booth Level Officers (BLOs) will undertake door-to-door verification of nearly 9.86 crore voters across the state from June 30. The final electoral roll will be published on October 7 following an extensive verification exercise aimed at removing names of absent, shifted, deceased and duplicate voters from the electoral database.

Over 1 lakh BLOs deployed

Addressing the media, Chockalingam said the Election Commission of India (ECI) has deployed 1,00,253 BLOs for the exercise, while political parties have so far appointed 1,13,558 Booth Level Agents (BLAs) to participate in the revision process. He urged recognised political parties to maximise BLA appointments before the launch of the campaign next month.

The draft electoral rolls will be published on August 5, after which claims and objections can be filed till September 4. Disposal of claims and objections will continue till October 3 before the publication of the final rolls.

Transparency assurance to parties

Responding to opposition parties’ concerns regarding transparency, Chockalingam assured that the draft list of proposed deletions would be shared with recognised political parties at the Assembly constituency level. BLAs, he said, have the legal right to scrutinise the lists and raise objections against wrongful deletions before the final publication.

He said the ECI has prepared a separate schedule for Maharashtra due to ongoing census-related work involving local administrative machinery.

Duplicate entries due to migration

The Chief Electoral Officer noted that rapid urbanisation and migration over the last two decades have significantly increased the possibility of duplicate entries, especially where voters shifted residence without deleting names from previous constituencies.

Explaining the verification process, Chockalingam said voters would receive pre-filled enumeration forms containing current voter details along with historical data mapped from the last SIR conducted between 2002 and 2004. BLOs will make at least three visits in cases where houses are found locked.

Online submission option

Voters will also have the option to submit updated and signed enumeration forms online. Citizens can verify old family electoral records through the ECI portal using basic details such as name, district and Assembly constituency.

Following publication of the draft rolls, strict notices will be issued to voters whose records fail to match historical data or where discrepancies are detected. Such lists will be displayed at local self-government offices, Tehsildar offices and official websites.

Chockalingam clarified that while Aadhaar cards are accepted as identity proof under ECI guidelines, they will not be treated as proof of citizenship, in line with provisions of the Aadhaar Act and Article 326 of the Constitution, which mandates that only Indian citizens aged 18 years and above are eligible to vote.

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