Although Kerala’s Special Intensive Review (SIR) of electoral rolls is officially scheduled to conclude on December 4, officials are rushing to complete the exercise by November 25, a move that is raising significant questions and concerns.
In several areas, the distribution of enumeration forms to voters has not even been completed. Booth Level Officers (BLOs) are now focusing on digitising the forms that have been submitted. Directions issued by certain District Collectors — asking voters to return filled-in forms before Monday and stating that BLOs will no longer visit homes to collect them — have created confusion among the public. Voters have now been instructed to submit their completed forms at designated collection centres.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court is set to hear petitions filed by the state government and political parties against the SIR exercise on November 26. The LDF government and parties, including the CPM and the Congress, have approached the apex court seeking to defer the process until the completion of local body polls. They have expressed concerns over the Central Election Commission's directive to expedite the SIR exercise.
The Chief Election Officer of Kerala has, reportedly, said that while the official deadline remains December 4, an early completion of the process would provide extra time to address gaps in the data, if any.
However, delays in verifying filled-in forms, uploading details, and technical glitches in the CEC portal have collectively slowed the pace of the SIR exercise across the state.
Also read: BLOs not pressured, focus on timely completion of SIR: Kerala CEO
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