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Kerala Chief Electoral Officer, Ratan U. Kelkar, extended his congratulations to all Booth Level Officers (BLOs) in the state for their excellent and exemplary work during the ongoing SIR.
According to a release from the CEO's office, Kelkar stated that the field-level efforts of the BLOs are crucial in maintaining the accuracy and reliability of the state's electoral roll. Kelkar specifically highlighted the tireless efforts of the BLOs. He particularly commended their efforts to identify and report Untraceable Forms, those forms for which the voter's presence or residence could not be verified by the BLOs. The categories in this 'Untraceable' section include: shifted, deceased, duplicates, etc. According to the release, the total number of forms in this category currently stands at 51,085. This accounts for 0.18 per cent of the total voters being re-verified. The CEO clarified that this is not the exact figure and that the actual number could be higher, as not all BLOs have digitised all the data yet. To ensure maximum accuracy and transparency on this matter and to prevent future complaints, the Chief Electoral Officer instructed all BLOs to urgently organise meetings with the Booth Level Agents nominated by recognised political parties. Kerala CEO Kelkar requested all political parties to actively participate in these important meetings. He added that everyone's cooperation is essential to uphold the democratic process by ensuring an accurate electoral roll. The Election Commission of India launched the second phase of the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls across nine states and three Union Territories, covering nearly 51 crore electors. The states and UTs included in this phase are Chhattisgarh, Goa, Gujarat, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep, and Puducherry. The Enumeration Period, which began on November 4, will continue until December 4, during which BLOs will distribute unique, partially pre-filled Enumeration Forms (EFs) to every elector. The BLOs will visit households at least three times for the distribution and collection of forms. To facilitate the process, over 5.3 lakh BLOs, 7.64 lakh Booth Level Agents (BLAs), 10,448 Electoral Registration Officers (EROs)/Assistant Electoral Registration Officers (AEROs), and 321 District Election Officers (DEOs) have been deployed. Electors can seek assistance from BLOs through the "Book-a-call with BLO" facility on the ECINet App or dial the toll-free helpline at 1950 with their STD code. The draft electoral rolls will be published on December 9, followed by a claims and objections period from December 9 to January 8, 2026. The final electoral rolls will be published on February 7, 2026. (ANI)
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