Representatives of political parties have sought extension of the deadline for resolution of concerns aired by the public as part of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Ernakulam. He met District Collector G.

in the presence of voter list supervisor Tinku Biswal here on Monday. A meeting chaired by Priyanka (who is also the District Election Officer) highlighted the ongoing shortcomings in the SIR process.

MLA T. J.

Speakers included Vinod, Anoop Jacob, Uma Thomas and Anwar Sadath. Concerns were raised on various issues including hearing of people excluded from the SIR draft list, changes in polling stations and enrollment of new voters.

On enrollment of new voters as per Form 6, Mr Vinod said the online process was cumbersome and time consuming. He said the process could be easier if booth level officers (BLOs) accept applications offline. In a statement, Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee vice-president Hibi Eden, MP, said the revision of the voter list under the SIR was a matter of grave concern.

He said that there have been many lapses on the part of the Election Commission regarding SIR. He said there are several objections to the currently published Absent, Transferred and Dead (ASD) voter list and has written to the Chief Election Commissioner requesting him to resolve the issues immediately. “It has been observed that BLOs at many places have not actively participated in the process.

2,06,061 people are in the no-mapping category in the district. This is a huge number. The current stance taken by the Commission is to disrupt the election process,” Mr Eden alleged.