EC probing non-return of SIR forms in Tamil Nadu

CHENNAI: After granting a one-week extension for submitting filled-out enumeration forms under the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral roll, election department officials are examining the reasons behind the widespread non-return of forms.

Officials have grouped the causes into five categories: lack of interest in voting, family members living abroad, uncertainty over the likelihood of voting, loss of SIR forms and families being out of town with forms yet to be filled.

“Returning the filled-up forms to Booth Level Officers (BLOs) is moving at a snail’s pace in Chennai and neighbouring districts. In rural areas, officers can easily identify deaths and shifted voters, but absent voters continue to be a major challenge for us,” an assistant Electoral Officer from Tenkasi district said.

An official from the election department noted that rural areas in Tamil Nadu lose nearly 15 to 20 per cent of votes due to absent and shifted voters.

The one-week extension from December 4 allows voters who are unavailable at their addresses to submit their enumeration forms, even if they were marked absent in the Election Commission’s mobile application used by BLOs.

Before the extension was announced, the enumeration work was scheduled to be completed by December 4, and most BLOs had already finished all tasks, including digitising the filled-out forms.

“If voters fail to collect enumeration forms, they are categorised as absent or shifted in the mobile application. Despite this, absent voters can still claim and collect their forms from the concerned poll officers. BLOs have the authority to make corrections until December 11, which is the cut-off date for the enumeration exercise,” an election official said.