ECI orders special drive to enrol voters left out of SIR

Under fire over the scale of deletions from voters’ lists in the nationwide Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise, the Election Commission of India (ECI) has directed the 20 states and Union Territories where the exercise has been completed to run a “special drive” to enrol voters “left out” of the rolls, The Indian Express has learnt. The instruction was conveyed in writing on September 29 and repeated at a video conference with all state Chief Electoral Officers (CEOs) Thursday. It comes as the Commission faces intense scrutiny over the 13 crore names struck off draft rolls in 30 states and Union Territories, and a week after an investigation by The Indian Express (September 23) showed that the question of who makes it onto the voters’ list and who is left out was being raised inside the Commission itself.