The Election Commission has extended the deadline for filing claims, suggestions and objections to the draft rolls by 12 days, from September 30 to October 12. The deadline for issuing and disposing of notices to 1.22 crore electors has also been extended by 12 days, to November 10.

The extension follows a request from the Chief Electoral Officer of Maharashtra and comes as the state’s electoral machinery continues to process a large number of cases flagged during the revision.

As of September 24, notices had been generated for 1.18 crore of the 1.22 crore electors identified for the notice process. Notices for another 3.91 lakh electors were yet to be generated.

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The scale of the exercise is larger still. Maharashtra had 9.79 crore electors before the SIR, while the draft electoral roll published on August 31 contained 7.72 crore names. Enumeration forms could not be collected from 2.07 crore electors, and their names were consequently not included in the draft roll.

The EC has clarified that the 2.07 crore figure should not be treated as the final number of deletions. Electors whose names are missing from the draft roll can seek their inclusion during the claims and objections process.

The reasons for non-collection of enumeration forms include electors being absent or not found at their addresses, having shifted, being deceased, or being enrolled elsewhere or more than once. Refusals and other reasons were also recorded.

Separately, the state electoral office has identified 1.22 crore electors in the draft roll for the notice process. Of these, 62.48 lakh have discrepancies in the details of their relatives in previous electoral rolls, while 59.76 lakh could not be mapped to a relative in the previous rolls.

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The two groups are separate. Together, they account for about 3.29 crore electors whose cases require further action before the SIR process is completed. The notice process, however, applies only to the 1.22 crore electors identified by the electoral office.

Pune had the highest number of notices still to be generated as of September 24, at 1.29 lakh, followed by Nagpur at 1.18 lakh. Yavatmal had 33,732 pending notices and Thane 33,317. Notice generation was nearly complete in Mumbai City and Mumbai Suburban.

Under the revised schedule, electors can now submit claims, suggestions and objections until October 12, while the notice and disposal process will continue until November 10. The final electoral roll was earlier scheduled to be published on November 4.