Chandigarh: The house-to-house enumeration exercise under the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls will begin across Punjab June 25, with all preparations for the exercise complete, Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Anindita Mitra said Wednesday.
Addressing a press conference, Mitra said booth level officers (BLOs) will visit every household to distribute pre-printed enumeration forms and assist voters in filling them. The BLOs will later collect the completed forms.
The exercise will continue till July 24.
If a household does not submit the form, the concerned BLO will make up to three visits and record the details by affixing a sticker at the residence, she said.
A total of 24,453 BLOs will cover 2.14 crore electors across the state.
So far, 1.84 crore electors, accounting for 86.02 per cent of the electorate, have already been mapped, the CEO said.
As per the Election Commission’s schedule, draft electoral rolls will be published August 3 after completion of the enumeration and rationalisation of polling stations by July 24.
Claims and objections can be filed from August 3 to September 2, while their disposal will be completed by September 28.
The final electoral rolls will be published October 1, Mitra said.
She said training of election staff and booth-level agents (BLAs) for the SIR exercise has been completed.
Replying to queries, Mitra clarified that any eligible voter who is not mapped during the enumeration process will be given an opportunity to submit the required documents before the electoral registration officer (ERO) during the claims and objections period for inclusion into the voter list.
She stressed that no eligible voter’s name would be deleted during the process.
The CEO also warned that enrolment as a voter at more than one place is a punishable offence and may attract imprisonment of up to one year.
Mitra said recognised political parties in Punjab have been briefed about the SIR process through meetings held at various levels and several suggestions received from them have been incorporated.
She added that all EROs have been directed to regularly review the progress of the exercise, address technical issues and resolve difficulties faced by BLOs during the enumeration drive.