SIR of voter lists in Meghalaya to begin from Jun 30: Officials

Shillong, Jun 29 (PTI) The house-to-house verification of voters under the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls will commence across Meghalaya from Tuesday, officials said. Booth-level officers (BLOs) will visit households in all constituencies from June 30 to July 29 to distribute self-enumeration forms to voters whose names appeared in the 2005 electoral rolls, which the Election Commission has adopted as the baseline, they said. East Khasi Hills Deputy Commissioner Abhilash Baranwal appealed to voters to participate in the exercise, asserting that the objective of the revision is "to include, not exclude". "The message and the request to all the electors is to take this exercise very seriously," he told reporters. The door-to-door survey will conclude on July 29, and the draft electoral roll will be published on August 5. After that, claims and objections can be filed by the voters and political parties from August 5 to September 4. The district administration has also enabled online submission of self-enumeration forms through the EC website, and set up helplines to assist voters, Baranwal said. He said eligible voters who have attained the age of 18 can apply for enrolment by submitting Form 6 during the verification process. The district has 1,021 polling stations and an equal number of BLOs deployed for the exercise, the officials said. Commenting on reported voter exclusions in some other states, the deputy commissioner said the administration is working with headmen and community representatives to build confidence among electors. PTI JOP RBT