All-party panel for more time to rectify SIR errors in Andhra

VIJAYAWADA: An all-party delegation and civil society coalition under the Votu Parirakshana Vedika (Vote Protection Forum) submitted a memorandum to the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) on Tuesday, alleging that flawed Special Intensive Revision (SIR) procedures threaten to disenfranchise nearly 66 lakh voters across Andhra Pradesh.

The delegation, comprising leaders from YSRCP, CPM, CPI, Congress, alongside retired civil servants, demanded an immediate extension of the voter revision and objection filing deadline until September 30, 2026.

According to data cited in the representation, 44.89 lakh voters were omitted from the draft electoral roll during the first phase of SIR.

This included 15.22 lakh entries marked as deceased, 7.37 lakh flagged as duplicate entries, and 22.30 lakh classified as untraceable or migrated.

The Forum highlighted that election authorities subsequently issued notices to another 44.21 lakh voters over minor technical issues. Over 36 lakh notices were served for minor spelling, parental name, or age discrepancies, alongside 7.3 lakh notices for unmapped voters. Over 2.33 lakh notices currently remain unanswered.

The coalition alleged that field authorities are alarming voters with threats of imprisonment, rejecting standard identity proofs like Aadhaar and Ration cards, and demanding hard-to-procure legacy certificates.

To safeguard voting rights, the Forum urged the CEO to accept 15 government-approved identity documents, conduct video-call hearings for remote migrant workers, publish transparent rolls at local Sachivalayams, and provide digital voter lists to recognised political parties.